The Gat
by Currywolf
Summary: Years after the petras act, the world has been left to fend for itself. With heroic protectors a thing of the past, someone, or something is prowling the streets of Naples. But this is'nt your average hero. The monster of Napoli is a ruthless embodiment of fear, concerned only with putting criminals through hell.
1. Solo Arc: Epilogue

Chapter 1: The Monster Of Naples

Naples, a city at the mercy of the mob.

With crime rates as high as they've ever been. The people here need a miracle to keep them safe.

But i'm not that miracle, i'm just your average investigative journalist, trying to figure out what's really going on in this city.

The world was hit pretty hard when the omnics rose against the humans, but Naples was hit harder than most. The images i saw on the news as a child showed only the broken husk of a town, with refugees spilling over each other in search of sanctuary.

But despite all of that, they rebuilt, what was once a thriving metropolis had reemerged from the ashes as a corrupt dystopian monster set on swallowing anything that came near.

Most of the gloomy streets lay in shadow of massive skyscrapers, stark contrasts in class were very clearly visible. In Naples, either you had it all, or you had nothing.

My main target was Carraro Enterprises, rumor has it that they were involved in many cases of illegal arms dealing, and production of high tech weaponry and vehicles in secret facilities. Most people were suspicious about their ties to organized crime. Especially Of Leonardo Carraro, owner of Carraro enterprises, who most felt made his money by working for the mob.

But all investigations into Carraro were ordered to be dropped and any cases against them had been thrown out of court. Carraro have money, and that means they can get away with anything. Every day i try to get an interview with representatives at Carraro, but they somehow manage to reschedule week after week due to 'unforeseen circumstances'.

They thought I would get bored and leave if they stalled long enough. Fat chance.

I had only spent a month in naples before the incident.

I was on my way home late in the evening through the narrow streets of the suburban district, which is a nicer way of saying 'the crappy district', when i saw them.

An expensive hovercar driving down the dark streets. Most folks who lived here couldn't afford a bike let alone a hovercar. My curiosity got the better of me so i decided to try and follow them. It wasn't too difficult because the streets were very narrow and winding, not the best place to drive a hovercar at full throttle.

Eventually the car stopped at a relatively less filthy looking house and two massive men stepped carrying a baton, the other a knuckleduster, as they stepped up to the house, I hid behind a nearby fence and pulled out my camera.

They knocked on the door and a small middle aged man answered. "Is this about what i owe the syndicate?" he asked, terrified by the sight of the thugs "I told you, now is not a good time, money is tight, please give me another month!".

Italian isn't my first language but i knew enough to be able to understand what was happening, a classic story of criminals taking advantage of the desperate and less fortunate. Baton thug said "the syndicate has been far too lenient with you, we were sent here to set an example for what will happen to those who fail to meet deadlines" they grabbed the man by his shoulders and threw him onto the pavement. "please! I have a family!" the poor man yelled.

"should have thought of that before you pissed off the syndicate" said knuckledusters, right before pounding the man in the side of the face. The two of them landed blow after blow, the man yelling with pain as his assailants mercilessly beat him.

I couldn't bear to stand by and take pictures anymore, no one deserves this. Something came over me, and i stepped out from behind the fences. "HEY, YOU" I yelled trying to draw them away from the man, they both stopped and looked at me. "there's someone there!" yelled baton,"get them!".

Suddenly two more thugs stepped out of the car, carrying automatic rifles. Well, now i had their attention, but there wasn't much else to do at that point. I had been stupid, irrational, blind. And now i would pay for it.

The machine gunmen grabbed me and kicked me to the curb next to the now black and bruised middle aged man. 'This is it' i thought, this is how it ends. Baton thug whacked me in the back of the head so hard i started seeing things.

Just like in the old cartoons I watched as a kid, stars seemed to spin around my head. I lay on my side and watched them continue pounding the other guy until blood started to seep from his wounds.

I was just about to pass out from my concussion, before I saw it.

I thought the monster of Naples was just an urban legend, a bogeyman. I just assumed that 'il Gatto' was just a story to scare children who wouldn't behave. But there i saw it. Perched on the rooftop above us, a humanoid figure watching with its piercing golden eyes. the thugs saw it too, but far too late.

The terrifying thing descended on its horrified victims at the speed of light. Swooping straight into knuckleduster rendering him knocked out on first contact.

As soon as the monster touched the ground it lashed out at baton thug's leg with its talons, leaving him screaming on the ground clutching his knee, now with massive gashes in it. The machine gun thugs fired liberally, but it was pointless.

The beast never stood still long enough to be able to see it, let alone hit it. It somehow fired a tendril from one of its arms that wrapped around the legs of the gunners and tripped them.

The creature walked up to them and kicked both of them in the head leaving them motionless.

The only one left stirring was baton thug who tried in vain to crawl away. The creature walked up to him and put its foot on the thugs wounded knee.

Baton thug screamed in pain. The beast moved down to face him at eye level. Its feline eyes changed from warm gold to piercing red, and it said, in a distorted and alien sounding voice " **WHO SENT YOU?** ".

"if I tell you they will kill me" baton whimpered. " **ANSWER ME!** " the monster bellowed as it stepped harder on baton's knee. After a lot of screaming and crying, baton said something to the beast under his breath.

After which it nodded and punched him in the face, knocking him out. Then tied him up, along with the other thugs. It briefly kneeled over the middle aged man but stood up and let out what sounded like a sigh. Then it turned its focus to me, and just as I was about to say something, I passed out.

I couldn't tell how long I was out, but I awoke to the feeling of pain, it felt like there was a fire in the back of my head.

I opened my eyes and found myself in a small pristine white room, just big enough for a cot and a small cabinet filled with what looked like medical supplies. There were digital interfaces along the walls. And a faint humming sound coming from all around. I sat up in the cot and held my hand to my head, someone had wrapped a bandage around it.

Someone? Who?

That's when it dawned on me. In my frightened and disoriented state, i thought i was seeing a monster, however, the monster of Naples was no monster at all, but a man.

Someone who may have just saved my life. There had been claimed sightings of vigilantism in Naples before but there was no real proof, until now.

Il Gatto, the guardian on the streets of Naples. This was the story of a lifetime. The world has had its fair share of heroes, ever since overwatch, sure, but this would be the first anyone has seen since the petras act.

I looked for my camera but i didn't have it on me. I decided to venture from my little room. It was time to face the man behind the beast.

As soon as i stood up from the bed I could feel there was something off about the place I was in. The floor was smooth and grippy, like the floor of a bus. I stepped out into a curved corridor with doors that probably led into various other rooms. I walked down the corridor until it eventually led into what seemed like a domed indoor courtyard.

The room had a shallow domed ceiling made of glass, which was letting through the rays of the morning sun. From what i could see there were no clouds in the sky, which was odd since I remembered it being fairly cloudy last time i saw it.

As for the room itself there was an assortment of strange equipment all over the place. All around there were computer screens displaying all sorts of information, holograms depicting different parts of the city, weapon racks loaded with knives, sabers and a bunch of other weapons I couldn't recognize, armour stands with many variations of the armour i had seen the night before and much much more.

But the main attraction had to be the man sitting in the very center of the room at what looked like a control panel of sorts. He was facing away from me and didn't see me come in.

"Hello?" I ventured "who are you? Where are w-"

"CAZZO!"

he exclaimed as he turned to face me, startled. "why the hell are you awake?" he said "the tranquilizer normally takes at least 4 hours to wear off" he slapped himself on the forehead "shit. You weren't supposed to see my face".

I looked at him, shocked, and realized that I recognized him, it was none other than Leonardo Carraro, CEO and owner of Carraro Enterprises.

"well, this isn't how i expected this introduction to happen, but… oh well… ahem… Hi! Im Leo, also known as Il Gatto."

He came up to me and held out his hand, I shook it slowly, still trying to comprehend my situation. I was beaten up by hired thugs, rescued by a scary monster vigilante, and then i woke up in some sort of fortress and was now talking to the a billionaire in the middle of a room full of dangerous weapons. Neat?

I decided to introduce myself "Hi, my name is-"

"oh i know exactly who you are, i ran you through my fingerprint and facial recognition software and I found your… lets say.. interesting history." said Leo.

"What history?" i asked. "oh you know, I read about how you were constantly trying to expose mafia operations in New York City, and your boss was forced to transfer you to Italy because you were getting a reputation for pissing off powerful people."

he said "I also know that you're a good person, back there you stood up for that guy even though you didn't know who he was and you were severely outnumbered.".

Suddenly I realized "wait, what happened to him? The guy they were beating up?" a grim look came across Leo's face "he didn't make it". Leo sat down in a nearby couch, sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I wasn't fast enough" he said, disappointed.

I sat next to him "i've never seen anyone move as fast as you, there was nothing you could have done". It didn't seem like I reassured him.

"wait a minute, you're a vigilante, why did you bring me to your base? Why risk being caught?". He sighed "you had a serious concussion, I had already lost one innocent life, I wasn't going to lose another." he looked me in the eyes "but that's not the only reason I brought you here".

"what do you mean?" I asked. "Normally I would have just patched you up and left you at a hospital" he said "but after looking through your files I realized I need someone like you".

"someone like me?" I said. Leo replied "yes, I need someone who I can trust, someone who knows right from wrong, who can help me put an end to organized crime.". I was not expectimg this, "Mr Carraro, i'm sorry but I don't know if I could do what you do" I said "I'm a journalist not a hero".

"the world could always use more journalists" said Leo with a sly smirk.

"That's why I need you, I'm tracking down a specific organization in Naples that call themselves 'the syndicate' i suspect they may have ties to international terrorist groups."

He said "I need someone to gather intel and help me locate key individuals, and there are very few trustable investigators in this city, if we worked together we could take down the syndicate".

"you really trust me with all this?" I asked. "i'm not wearing my mask am I?" he said. I looked at him, a man who was wealthy enough to buy or do whatever he could ever possibly want, and yet he cares only about the safety of the citizens of Naples.

This explained so much about arraro Enterprises, all the weapons, armour and vehicle manufacturing was in fact to provide equipment for Leo's nightly activities. The dodgy investigations and court cases were necessary for him to keep his vigilante life a secret. And here he was, asking me, a virtual stranger to help him save the city.

"yes" I said "let's do it".

"thank you" he said "be in touch as soon as your head gets better". "how?" I asked. "with this" he gave me some sort of compact satellite phone. "all you have to do is call".

I was just about to search for an exit when Leo guided me to a strange section of the wall that had handrails on it. "hang on to this" he said. He ran down to the central control panel and said "commence landing procedure".

I suddenly realized where we were, Il Gattos base of operations was in fact a large aircraft, the humming sound from earlier was the sound of the ion engines. "this is incredible" i said. "Impressive huh? I call her: the dark cloud, never in the same place for too long" said Leo.

We descended to the top of a building in the richer part of town and Leo dropped me off on the roof. "this is just the beginning" he told me as he was about to leave "the syndicate will not go down without a fight".

Out of curiosity I asked "how are you so sure I'm going to keep your secret?". He smiled and said "because we both want the same thing" he waved turned around and walked back into his flying fortress.

As it flew up into the horizons I noticed how the aircraft was completely invisible from underneath. Naples has an invisible guardian silently watching over it. The monster of naples, Il Gatto, whatever you wanted to call him, he's out there, and he will do what it takes to defend his city. He is the miracle that the people of naples have prayed for. The miracle that will keep them safe.

Naples may be a city at the mercy of the mob.

But the mob, is at the mercy of The Gat.


	2. Solo Arc: Something to Fear

Chapter 2: Something to Fear.

"You what sir?"

"I told them who I was"

"You can't' be serious"

"Hey knock it off, we've been hitting dead ends for months, it's about time we got some fresh eyes on the syndicate"

I moved my fingers across the faceplate, the smooth display buzzing with static

"Besides, punching clues out of goons on the street can only get you so far. It's time we tried a different approach" I said.

Ai's can't sigh, but if they could Minerva would definitely be frowning right now.

"All im saying sir, is that maybe we should at least try leaking some of your findings to the police, maybe it could help."

"You know as well as i do that there isn't a single cop in this town who isn't on the mob's payroll" I replied.

"What about interpol? There has to be someone who can help us" said Minerva.

I finished strapping the armour onto it's stand.

"I don't need help from the police minerva!" I was getting frustrated. "there's too much red tape involved with them, by the time they get their asses to work, too many innocent people will have been hurt.".

It was a long night I needed some rest.

"Minerva set me down at the penthouse, I need a drink".

The _Cloud_ swooped silently over the penthouse building, which was glinting brightly in the early morning sun, the Carraro enterprises logo still blazing brightly across the front. I climbed down onto the roof of my penthouse building and watched the _Dark Cloud_ ascend into the heavens.

A miracle of engineering, ion engines that were efficient enough to keep an aircraft the size of a football field in the air using nothing more than xenon gas and some solar power. It put a smile on my face, thinking about that machine, I mean come on, It's a flying base of operations, what more could a man want? Ill tell you what, some damn answers.

I stepped into my living room and turned on the lights. I flopped down onto the couch and looked out the window at the city of Naples. Bathing in the warm rays of the sun. It was beautiful, from the glistening waters of the coast to the tiny streets that squirmed between the tightly packed buildings. Seeing it in all it's glory, one might even forget for a moment that every single person in this city is at risk.

In recent times, the terrorist group known as Talon have started to resurface. There have been sightings of Talon operatives in nearly every country in Europe, but not a single peep out of them in Italy. Normally one would think that this means they aren't here. But i'm not convinced.

Lately all the crime families have started acting extra paranoid, showing off their power, exerting their authority. Like what happened last night, with the old guy and the journalist. The families are squeezing as much money out of the city as they can. Something is brewing behind Naples' beautiful exterior, something I just cannot seem to figure out.

I poured myself a glass of wine and turned on my computer. The thug I beat up the other night gave me a name, a name I hadn't heard before.

' _Ombra_ '

Which means 'shade' in Italian.

"Hey Minerva run this through the crime database, 'ombra'. See if you find anything".

"Searching database for matches to Ombra… no matching results".

"Cazzo" I cursed under my breath, another dead end.

I finished my glass of wine.

"Sir maybe you should be taking a break from this, you need to be Leonardo Carraro right now, not The Gat" she said.

"Shut up Minerva, you're getting on my nerves… my nerves.. minervs… Minerva..". I let out a small laugh, I'm a bit of a lightweight.

"At least you're easing up a bit, sir".

Minerva was originally an experimental artificial intelligence developed by overwatch to manage their information banks. When they disbanded, Carraro Enterprises was quick to take advantage and acquire as much of the old overwatch tech as possible. One such piece of technology was the Minerva AI, which I modified for my own purposes. A few years ago Minerva gained enough information to achieve sentience. She was much more than just an AI.

"You're like my best friend Minerva" I said with a stupid smile on my face.

"Wow , that's really sad" she said. "You really need to get out more ,sir".

"Don't push it" I got up to go to bed, even though it was 6 in the morning.

"Minerva don't let me sleep for too long."

"Sir, you've been awake nearly 48 hours, I think you've earned the right to oversleep just this once"

I woke up at nearly 3 o'clock the next morning,

"what the fuck Minerva?" I groaned as I got out of bed

"Good morning sir, are you well rested?" she asked

"I'm pretty sure I've missed several important meetings today" I threw on some clothes and started freshening up.

"Don't worry about it, I rescheduled all your meetings for next week. You need a break sir, maybe even a vacation.

"did you also reschedule all the crime in Naples to happen next week?" I asked, pissed.

Minerva had brewed some coffee for me already, I poured myself a mug and took a sip.

"Sir I need to tell you something" she said

"What?"

"remember that movie you watched a couple of weeks ago?"

"Hmm… oh you mean ' _Some Like It Bot_?' Yeah I remember"

"Well, do you remember how you said you found one of the actresses attractive?"

"Uh huh" I was worried about where this was going.

"Yes.. well… I made a few calls, and you will be having dinner with her this evening"

I nearly choked on my coffee

"WHAT? I Swear you are so lucky you don't have a face because if you did I would have punched it"

"I'm only doing what's best for you sir, trust me when I say this, you need the company"

"Fine, I'll go but just to get you off my back" Hey, who knows maybe this might work.

It was a beautiful evening, at a beautiful restaurant, and I was sitting across the table from a beautiful actor. Anyone else would be enjoying themselves, but of course, me being me, I was lost in thought about the syndicate.

"Are you alright?" she asked me.

Her name was Thespion 3.0, but she preferred to be called 'Thes'. She was a famous omnic actress from America, one of the newer generation ones at that. I thought she was great, don't get me wrong, but considering how much I had been through in the last few days, dating was the last thing on my mind.

"No… no i'm fine, just stressed out I guess" I said

"About what?" she asked.

I thought for a second, sure maybe I just had to talk about it.

"About all the crime in this city" I told her. "Naples is my home town, and it really upsets me to see it fall into the wrong hands."

She tilted her head, then leaned in, and in a playful whisper she said

"Well… have you heard the rumors?"

"What rumors?"

"Rumors about 'The Gat'. They say that he's a vigilante who beats the crap out of criminals at night."

I smiled and leaned in as well, I whispered

"Some people say he's actually a dangerous criminal, who should not be trusted"

"I'd rather have him protecting me than the anti omnic police force you have here" she said

"Can't disagree with that I'm afraid, the cops here are hopeless"

We had a hearty laugh over that and I had a few more drinks.

It's always a little awkward when dating omnics, they don't exactly eat or drink the same as humans, so it's basically just her watching me have dinner.

But regardless we had a nice evening.

I was driving Thes down to her hotel (well, technically my hotel, since I own it) when once again I could think of nothing other than the syndicate.

She looked at me

"Is something bothering you? You've been pretty distant all evening"

I thought for a second, ah, fuck it

"does the word 'ombra' mean anything to you?" I asked. Hey it's worth a shot, I was desperate.

"Okay… no I can't say that it does, but it does sound a lot like the spanish word _sombra_ which means shade."

Suddenly a thought hit me, how could I have missed it.

I was such an idiot. Such. An. Idiot. I knew what I had to do now.

"Well that was a nice date, thank you so much bye now" I helped her out of the car, kissed her on the hand, jumped back in and drove off as fast as I could, Leaving Thes very confused outside her hotel.

I was driving along a deserted countryside road at top speed

"Minerva you there?"

"Ah, hello sir, how was the date? You better have enjoyed it because it was not easy getting an A-list actress to fly down to Naples just to spend an evening with you."

"Minerva remind me to turn down your attitude slider just a tiny bit"

"I'm sorry sir, I'm just really hoping the two of you hit it off, you desperately need more people in your life."

"we can talk more about my pathetic loneliness later Minerva, pick me up in the _Cloud_ , I think i've got a breakthrough on the syndicate case."

"right away sir"

Suddenly the _Dark Cloud_ seemingly materialized in front of me and lowered its ramp, I drove straight in, got out of the car, and hurried down to the central control panel.

"Okay minerva remember how I asked you to search the database for any instances of the name ombra?"

"Yeah, I couldn't find anything, sir" she said

"I had assumed ombra was a local agent, a low level operator for the syndicate. But say they weren't, say they were actually working on a far larger scale…"

I pulled up a few holographic interfaces, there was a thunderstorm brewing, I diverted course.

"Minerva,I need you to try searching again, but this time look for any references to individuals with the name 'ombra' in all crime databases, and in all languages, not just in Italy."

"Woah, how big do you think the syndicate is?"she asked

"Were not after the syndicate, they're just a front for something much bigger and far more dangerous"

I looked up through the transparent ceiling, we had already risen above the stormy clouds.

"I think our 'ombra' is primarily working with Talon. And whatever Talon is doing with the mafia, it can't be good"

"Searching databases, this may take a while" said Minerva.

"Yeah, take your time, but just be thorough, we need everything we can find on this person"

I sent a message to my new investigator friend, since they had worked in the states, they may have some information regarding ombra or sombra or whatever.

"Huh, is that your new journalist friend? What could they possibly know that I couldn't find out?" said Minerva.

"Ooh, looks like someone's jealous. Just stay focused, this is serious" I said

"Come on, I work better when i'm talking. How was the date with Thes, sir?"

I sighed "she was nice, I guess. But my mind's not in the right place for that sort of stuff right now"

"Sir, im just worried that your mind might never be in the right place"

"let's stick to fighting crime, relationship advice isn't what I made you for"

"I just want what's best for you sir"

"And I just want what's best for the people"

"A suited up vigilante knocking around thugs in alleyways is really what's best for the people?" asked Minerva

I stepped up to the cockpit window and looked down to the earth, from up here all I could see through the brief breaks in the cloud cover was the green Italian countryside, and a few specks of light where a some buildings were scattered.

"In a world without Gods, people need something to reassure them that there is still justice. I wear that suit not because I want to, but because someone _has_ to. They need something to believe in"

I turned away from the window

"And they need something to fear"

"Would you like me to search the web for: 'They need something to fear'?" said Minerva

"Knock it off Siri" I rolled my eyes "I was trying to make a point"

"Sir, I hate it when you get moody"

"Then give me some good news Minerva"

"You're in luck,the scan is finished" she said. I sat back down at the control panel.

"You're going to like this sir, turns out Ombra is in fact just an Italian alias for an agent called Sombra. She's a talon operative from mexico that also happens to be a very skilled hacker."

A picture came up on the screen, it was a low quality security camera image which showed a group of talon agents breaking into a building. And behind the main group, was a small woman with purple looking hair and a strange outfit.

"Minerva zoom in, then enhance" I said

"Were not in a csi show, I can't do that" said Minerva.

"Fuck, were so close, what else did you find out?"

"She's been doing a lot to cover up her tracks. but you need to be a lot better to outsmart me" said a very arrogant AI.

"Let's just say I hacked into a few important criminal organizations, and tracked all the operations she's been involved in. And managed to find a way of pinpointing a few areas of interest.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" I asked.

"We can find them, sir"

"Well" I said.

"So much for that break..."

"It's time to give those _cazzi_ something to fear"


	3. Solo Arc: Hope

Chapter 3: Hope

For fucks sake.

It's been nearly 5 days since the 'Sombra' revelation.

Minerva pinpointed a number of hotspots in Italy where she found the most syndicate activity. Her theory was that Sombra would keep herself at the heart of the operation, for maximum protection.

So I've had to spend the last few days bursting into safe houses filled with armed thugs, fight like hell, and only then realise she was never there in the first place.

"Hold still sir, this won't hurt a bit"

I was laying in the infirmary of the _Dark Cloud_ after my 4th unsuccessful safehouse bust. Only this time one lucky bastard managed to get a bullet between my armour plates, wedging it in my abdomen.

Minerva was operating the medical droids, she pulled the bullet out of my side in one quick motion.

It felt like someone had shot molten lava into my wound.

"ARGH, YOU LIAR" I clenched my teeth.

"What was i supposed to do, sir? Tell you that it would hurt like a bitch? Oh, that would have kept you calm for sure"

The medical droid dropped the bullet into a tray.

"Who knows. Maybe I would have preferred it" I said, trying to will the pain away.

"Alright then. Sir, this is going to hurt like a bitch"

The droid shot a small laser beam across the bullet wound, cauterizing and sealing it.

She wasn't lying this time.

After she shot some painkillers into my arm, I got up from bed.

"How long till I'm healed?" I asked, slowly stepping into the main control room.

"A day by my estimates, but you should probably take it-"

"Easy, I know. But every second I waste 'taking it easy' Talon sinks its teeth deeper into Italy."

I pulled up a holographic map of the country. We had already busted the syndicate's operations in Naples, Milan, Florence and Venice.

"Where to next?" I asked.

"There's only one place left where we haven't looked. Rome." Minerva zoomed in on the _Lazio_ region.

"There have been sightings of strange activities in _Tirbutina_ Valley, in the eastern part of the city. I've been monitoring network traffic and noticed a lot of activity near one of the abandoned factories there. If you ask me sir, there's no better place to hide."

"You said the same thing about all the other places."

"Well, trust me sir, your princess _isn't_ in another castle this time."

"Princess?" I asked, confused.

"Sir its a reference to a late nineteenth century video game called-"

"I don't care. Set course for _Tirbutina._ " I ordered.

"Right away sir"

The _Dark Cloud_ soared away from venice, the citizens below blissfully ignorant of the massive aircraft flying over their heads.

I didn't think Talon would be working in Rome, since organized crime there was a lot more tame compared to the hell that I have to deal with in southern Italy.

"Minerva what's the ETA?" I asked

"The weather isn't on our side sir. Strong winds are blowing against us, and there are a few thunderstorms predicted to show up on our path"

"So? how long will it take?" I asked, impatiently.

"Optimal route will take 5 hours, sir" she said

"Cazzo" I cursed "This is a never ending nightmare"

"Sir you are agitated, remember your teachings. Maybe you should meditate" suggested Minerva

I sighed

"Fine, anything to take my mind off this shit show"

I went to my quarters and sat on my bed, legs crossed eyes closed, just like I had been taught, so many years ago. I then tried to clear my mind, but I ended up reminiscing about the past.

I was a young man in my late twenties when I decided to do my part and fight crime in Naples, and by extension in Italy.

Growing up I was inspired by stories about heroes that protected the innocent, champions that guarded us and ensured our safety. Stories about Overwatch.

In my dark childhood, I would look to those heroes for hope. I saw them as proof that there was still good in the world, and that justice would prevail.

But all of this was crushed. On one fateful day, the world was hit with the most shocking news since the omnic crisis.

Overwatch was nothing more than a bunch of war criminals that paraded themselves as heroes. The petras act was signed and Overwatch was no more. I hated them for the horrible things they did. But I realised how important they were for the world.

We didn't need them to protect us. We needed them to inspire hope. We needed something for the children of the world to look up to. Something that reassured them that everything would be okay.

I decided to fill the void that Overwatch had left behind.

I travelled to Nepal, to learn martial arts from the Shambali monks.

I trained under Terkhatta Mondatta. But this was before he was anointed as the leader of the Shambali.

He taught me about how to gauge an opponent's strength and use it against him, how to make sure I plan ten steps ahead of my opponent and have responses to his every move. He showed me how fear was everyone's biggest enemy. If I could use fear to my advantage, I could potentially win any fight.

After years of training, I decided I had learned enough and I told him I was returning to Italy.

"You cannot leave yet, there is much for you to learn" he told me.

"What do you mean? I know everything I need to know."

At that point, I could win any physical fight against all the teachers and students there that I sparred with, including Mondatta himself.

"Why was it you came here in the first place?" He asked.

"To learn how to fight." I answered honestly.

"My friend, the ultimate goal of learning martial arts, is to find peace within yourself, so that in the end you may never have to use them." He said

"What do you mean?" I asked

"I sense a darkness within you, something visceral and painful. You have to learn how be at peace with your inner demons if you truly want to free your mind." he told me

"The Iris is ready to accept you, but you have to accept the Iris first."

"I didn't come here to learn how to free my mind. I came here to learn how I can free the innocent from the grasp of the corrupt and evil." I replied.

"I cannot stop you Leonardo. But just know this" He looked at me sadly.

"Hatred is not strategy...And revenge is not justice."

I woke up in a cold sweat.

"Sir, we are inbound to Rome, we have around 15 minutes till we arrive." said Minerva

I looked out the window, I watched the Lazio scenery run past underneath us.

"This is it isn't it." I said.

"What do you mean, sir?"

"This is where I'll find her. Sombra I mean." and this time, I was pretty sure I was right.

"Are you worried sir? you seem worried." inquired Minerva

I smirked.

"No, I don't think so."

"Sir, there's something you need to see." she said.

I stepped up to the control panel. Minerva threw a bunch of news articles onto the screen, and even a few security camera videos.

I was expecting her to show me intel regarding Talon, Sombra or the Syndicate. But the main focus of all the news and footage, wasn't any of that.

It was all about _me._

"Sir, in your hurry to bring down the Syndicate, you weren't taking precautions to avoid the public eye." Said Minerva.

I looked through all the articles

"Cazzo I'm getting sloppy.".

Some civilians had apparently seen me in action and photographed me as I was attacking the safehouses.

There were pictures of me jumping through windows, taking on 4 thugs at once and even one that got a decent front profile of my suit as i was standing on a building (this was the most popular picture, a lot of news articles were using it.).

"Looks like Il Gatto is no longer a legend, sir. You're quite famous." Said Minerva

This was new. I never had this much attention when it came to crime fighting.

"Well, how famous is it?" I asked, a little anxious.

"On the internet, you're currently #1 trending in Italy, and #2 in the world" replied Minerva

"Whoa, #2 worldwide? Whats #1?" I asked.

"People are speculating about Thespion 3.0's possible new relationship with Leonardo Carraro. Paparazzi caught them having a date."

"Glad to see people have their priorities set." I rolled my eyes.

"What exactly do people think?" I asked.

"Oooh, since when did you care about what people thought, sir?" She teased.

"Just tell me" I said, admittedly a bit nervous.

"Well, currently they say that Thespion and you make a cute couple, but many people are wondering if Leonardo is the right person for-"

"I MEANT ABOUT IL GATTO!" I yelled

"Sorry sir. Didn't think you would get so worked up… god"

"WELL?" I demanded

"The government hates you guts. They say vigilantism is strictly illegal. But the people think that you are a hero. They believe in you sir. And they think you've done more to stop crime than the authorities ever have."

Minerva showed some Images of protests in Sicily.

"There are protests like this all over the country. The people are pressuring the police to take a stand against Organized crime. There's even rumor that the Federal Police are investigating further into organized crime's ties with international terrorism."

I looked at the protesters in the picture.

One of them was carrying a sign that said 'Praise The Gat', another sign read 'We need heroes'. And one particular sign caught my eye. It was the same famous image of The Gat standing on a building, underneath it there was just one word.

' _Speranza_ '

which means-

"Hope... That's what they see in you sir. How does it feel to be the inspiration that is motivating an entire nation into taking action against crime?" asked Minerva.

I blinked

"Huh, no pressure."

We arrived above the 'abandoned' factory just as day was breaking.

"We have to be quick, Minerva, it's going to be a hell of a lot harder to get out of there in broad daylight."

"Running scans, sir" Minerva sent down the reconnaissance drones to do some quick recon before I went in myself.

I headed into the armory. A handful of suits lined the wall, each specialized for a different purpose.

"What do you recommend for the job Minerva?"

"I suggest the classic suit sir, you'll need a balance of stealth, agility and utility."

I looked at the classic suit.

It had a black, tough, grippy silicon base layer with silver bulletproof armour plating covering vital areas on my body.

The titanium gauntlets had razor sharp talons on the end, strong enough to grip concrete.

A waist length cape hung down over one shoulder. This served no practical purpose, I just thought it looked cool.

A utility belt hung off the waist, it had many slots in which I could keep an assortment of equipment if need be.

Then came the helmet, this is probably why everyone calls me 'Il Gatto'.

It consisted of two main sections.

The main helmet, which was made of the same material as the armour plating, covered most of my skull, and the back of my head. There were two 'cat ears' on the back of the helmet fitted with infrasound sensors and transmitters capable of communicating on most frequencies (Mostly so that Minerva can stay in touch from the _Cloud_ ). Initially meant to look like horns, but people preferred to think of them as ears.

The other section is a smooth featureless semi transparent gray faceplate that, when activated, has a pair of cat like eyes projected onto it. I use this to intimidate enemies, it's surprisingly effective at scaring most goons shitless. A downside to this is that I can't really see through the faceplate very clearly, but I have small cameras mounted along the helmet that send a live feed to the inside of the faceplate, capable of giving me more information, like distance, temperature, and night vision.

When I designed these suits, I was trying to go for a demonic look. A physical embodiment of fear. But the cat theme stuck. And honestly it doesn't bother me. Cats are alright.

I suited up and turned on the helmet.

"All systems nominal, sir" said Miranda through my earpiece.

I checked to see if the voice scrambler worked

" **Hello? Is it working?** " I asked.

"My goodness sir you have me spooked!" said Minerva

" **Thats a 'yes' I'm guessing** " I said

"I almost feel bad for all the asses you are about to kick, sir" Said the ever wisecracking voice in my head.

On the roof of the factory there was only one visible way to get in, a vent guarded by two talon soldiers.

I dropped down on one of them, my full impact hitting him in the head through my knee.

His friend barely had time to react before I kicked him in the face.

Two knocked out guards and a way in. Just what I needed.

"You seem to have things under control sir. Impressive" said Miranda, as I removed the vent cover.

" **Oh, thanks for noticing.** " I hopped into the vent, feet first.

"Just one last thing before you go in there."

" **What is it?** "

"Try not to get shot, sir, because it will hurt like a bitch."


	4. Solo Arc: The Devil

Chapter 4: The Devil

I studied the ventilation system on my heads up display in my faceplate.

Minerva's drones had mapped out most of the building's interior, but there was one part of the factory that the drones went offline in. The basement level.

I had a bad feeling that I would find sombra in the one part of the building where i had no vision.

At least I knew where I had to go.

A solitary guard was slowly patrolling a corridor.

As he passed under a ventilation shaft, it burst open and I dropped down on him.

I delivered a sharp blow to the back of the head before he could even lay his eyes on me, then I tied him up and left him up in the vent.

I continued down the corridor, Minerva's mapping giving me pseudo x-ray vision. There were a lot of agents in this factory.

Minerva had tagged more than 50 of them prowling around, most of them being talon grunts.

I looked through a wall and noticed one grunt was talking to a group of syndicate thugs. It looked like some form of mission briefing.

" **Minerva, can you get me audio?** "

"Uh, Is the pope catholic?" she said sarcastically.

" **I will delete you.** "

The Audio transmission came through.

"Why haven't we been given our cut yet? We've done everything you Talon freaks have asked." said one thug.

"You will be payed when you bring in enough money, you still need to collect a couple thousand more to meet the quota." replied the Talon agent.

"Are you crazy? We've been sucking Rome dry for nearly a month, we need to lay low. Plus haven't you heard? There's some sort of costumed freak attacking syndicate safe houses all over Ita-"

He couldn't finish his sentence because a costumed freak threw a stun baton at his head.

The rest of the grunts had noticed that their colleague had been knocked unconscious and were rather upset about it. Luckily they weren't upset for long, because soon enough, they too were unconscious.

" **I was right Minerva, Talon is just using the syndicate to get their money for them. Looks like while the mob had been leeching off the city on Talon's behalf.** "

"While the mob takes advantage of Italy, Talon takes advantage of the mob. Looks like what goes around comes around, sir."

I continued downwards through the vents, I was heading toward the dark spot on my sensors, a single room just beneath the factory floor.

"Sir, just letting you know, I can't help you if you go in there. Something is blocking the signal."

" **I'm sure I can manage without you for a short while.** "

"Just be careful sir, if you mess up, I won't be able to save your ass this time."

" **What did you just say?** "

"Nothing, sir."

I came across two guards who stood guarding a the door to the upper catwalk of the factory.

They were bored out of their mind after having stood there the entire night with no disturbances.

So you could imagine their surprise when I jumped down from the vent, landed in front of them, and bashed their skulls against each other.

I kicked down the door and stepped through.

I walked onto the catwalk which was high above the warehouse floor. I looked down and saw what had to be Talon's base of operations for the whole of Italy.

Beneath me, the factory was teeming with Talon soldiers, many of them sparring with each other and practicing their tactics.

There were crates and boxes full of supplies, ammo and armour all over the place.

Weapon racks lined the walls, and not just any weapons.

There were high caliber fully automatic rifles, newly issued pulse weapons, and even some things I had never seen before.

Talon was planning something big. They were planning to go to war.

I had to destroy this place. No questions about it.

" **Minerva, send out the SUDs .** **Get as many as you can just below the factory floor.** "

"Deploying Special Utility Drones. Sir, if I may, you really should change that name, SUDS? Really?"

" **Later, Just get them down there as fast as you can.** "

The SUDs were a relatively new project of mine. Small drones capable of drilling into the earth. Once in position they can perform a multitude of tasks. But they did one thing better than anything else.

"Drones are in position, sir."

" **Excellent. Get ready to activate protocol BW5.** "

"That's a pretty risky one ,sir. Are you sure you can pull it off with this many hostiles?"

" **It's our best shot.** "

"Okay sir, activating protocol."

Below, the Talon agents were going about their usual business.

Until they heard a strange sound coming from behind one of the factory's doors.

They all grabbed their weapons and aimed at the doors, ready for whatever was coming through.

"You don't suppose it's _him_ do you?" said one of them, sweat dripping down his face.

"Who?" another asked.

"Il Gatto, the monster of Naples"

"Oh would you shut the fuck up, he's just a fairytale. Besides… if it is him, he's way outnumbered."

The seconds went by. Another sound came from behind the door, but closer this time.

Deadly silence. That's what followed in the next few moments. Fear creeping into the souls of every man in the room.

But they stayed strong, they kept their full unwavering focus on the door.

Too bad there was nothing behind it

" **Minerva, now!** "

What was the utility of the SUDs? They can generate sounds, and They can explode.

The floor erupted at the feet of the soldiers. knocking most of them on the ground.

In the confusion I threw jammers at several of the biggest weapons, rendering them useless.

Once the Jammers deactivated the guns, they exploded, stunning the wielders.

Two soldiers still had their rifles, and were shooting into the holes created by the SUDs in confusion.

I fired my grappling hook at the feet of one of the soldiers, and hoisted him, upside down, up to the catwalk.

I jumped down and landed next to the other armed thug. I grabbed him by his gun arm and twisted it.

He screamed out in pain and fired wildly, I spun him around by his twisted arm, sending bullets everywhere and forcing all the other grunts to get down.

I forced the gun out of his hands and tossed him across the floor.

As everyone was getting back up, another Talon thug picked up a nearby rifle and fired at me wildly, missing his shots out of fear.

In response, I shot my grappling hook into his shoulder, embedding it deep into his flesh.

As he yelled in pain, I wrapped the cord of the grappling hook around my leg and used the extra strength to yank the thug towards me from across the room.

As he zoomed towards me through the air, my fist went up to strike him down, sending him rolling into explosion debris.

One soldier was reaching for his pulse rifle, but before he could, I threw a throwing knife at him. It went straight through his palm. He wouldn't be reaching for anything again anytime soon.

I heard movement behind me. I turned around and saw a very angry goon holding a grenade in his hand. He ran towards me with it.

I pressed a button on my grappling hook, causing the soldier I had strung up to the catwalk earlier to fall. And just before landing in between me and the grenade wielding maniac, I kicked him as hard as I could, propelling him towards the suicide bomber.

The impact sent both of them sprawling to the ground a good distance away.

Just as the grenade detonated, I turned to face three armed soldiers.

Two were carrying guns, all it took to take them out were some well placed blows to the neck and head. The third soldier lashed out at me with a knife.

I ducked beneath the attack and grabbed him by his arm. Then I proceeded to flip him over my shoulder and slam him into the ground.

A few more thugs stood by the opposite wall of the factory and fired their pistols at me.

Between me and them there was a single crate, in front of which was a soldier who had just run out of bullets. Not that it would make any difference to me.

I ran towards him, grabbed his head, and slammed it into the crate as I jumped over it.

The soldiers standing by the wall seemed to collectively shit themselves when they saw me land.

I shot my grappling hook into the crate and swung it towards the wall.

It knocked one of the goons headfirst into the wall, leaving blood where it made impact.

One of the other soldiers got lucky and shot the grappling hook out of my hand.

Then him and three of his friends wildly fired their pistols at me.

I kept my back to the remaining soldiers and let them empty their clips into my armour.

When the shooting stopped I turned and lunged at them.

I grabbed the first thug by his fist and swung my other arm around with my claws outstretched.

In one motion I managed to scratch two of them in the face and punch the thug I was holding in his face, leaving him down for the count.

Now i had to deal with the two thugs I had scratched. I blocked a punch from one of them, but the other managed to hit me in my face plate. Unfortunately for him, when I'm in combat my faceplate is buzzing with enough static to knock out most adult men.

So instead of actually hurting me, he was sent flying by the electrical discharge.

Three more Syndicate thugs appeared on the scene and surrounded me.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO STAND DOWN!" one of them yelled.

I looked around at them, now that I no longer had the element of surprise, they would be a little harder to handle.

All I had left to rely on was physical skill.

" **Unfortunately for you, I'm not going to.** "

"Oh those poor bastards" said Minerva.

The four of them stood in a square around me.

The first attack was from opposite sides simultaneously, two of them swung at me with their knives at the same time.

I threw up my titanium gauntlets to deflect both attacks at once.

I grabbed one of them by the arms and threw him at his friend, sending them sprawling.

Behind me the other two attacked, trying to stab me with their knives.

I grabbed one of them by the shoulder and crushed his elbow, breaking his arm.

As for the other attacker, I used the thug I was holding as a human shield for the knife attack.

The knife went straight into his already broken arm.

I flung him aside and performed a push kick on his friend, knocking him away.

A couple of the thugs I had thrown earlier had gotten up and were coming back for more.

I administered a swift right hook to one of them, and a sharp palm punch to the face to the other.

I turned around and saw that the soldier with the broken arm (my bad) was trying to pull the knife out of his bicep.

I went up to him and decided to help him out. I pulled it out of his arm and shoved it into his thigh instead.

As he bent over screaming I delivered one final surprisingly powerful punch to the back of his head, causing his entire body to leave the ground as his head went straight into it.

One of the goons I had scratched before was running up to me with the intention of tackling me, but instead I grabbed him and forced him to the ground.

I punched him once, he screamed, I punched him again, he screamed some more.

After the third punch he stopped screaming.

The thug who I push kicked had come back with a pistol and fired it point blank into the back of my head.

Idiot.

I turned, snatched his gun arm, kicked him in the knee and performed an over the head judo takedown, breaking his knee in the process.

But I was getting tired, and didn't notice that there were still two soldiers remaining.

One of which came up to me and kicked me in the chest, sending me stumbling back.

The other soldier was behind me and grabbed me by the cape and used it to drag me to the floor.

I regained my bearings just in time to block a knife slash from the cape-puller using my gauntlet.

The two of them lashed out at me with several knife swings, I deflected each one, waiting for my opportunity to counter.

I found that opportunity when one of them got a little too close, after deflecting his knife I sent a cross elbow strike into his face.

While he was recovering I tried to sit up, but got push kicked back to the ground by the other thug. As soon as I hit the ground, cape-puller had recovered and took the opportunity to stab me in my shoulder.

" **CAZZO!** " I yelled out.

Using my leg I knocked kick pusher off his feet. Using the same leg I kneed cape-puller in the face. Kick pusher had quickly recovered and attempted another stab, but I got to my feet in time to deflect and punched his leg off the ground, leaving him to fall face first to the floor.

I turned to face cape-puller, still quite pissed about him stabbing me. I pulled the knife out of my shoulder and grabbed him by his collar.

I pinned him to the wall using his knife, stabbing him straight through the shoulder.

' **Taste your own medicine bitch** "

I felt a punch land on the back of my head. I turned to find kick-pusher was still conscious.

Having quite had enough of his shit, I delivered a quick jab to his face, a swift knee to his gut, and threw him into the wall.

The wall broke.

I turned to cape-puller. The one person who had managed to hurt me in the entire fight.

"Please don't kill me" he whimpered.

I stepped up to him, menacingly. I let him get a good long look at me. He was so frightened he might as well have been on the verge of a heart attack.

I turned the eyes on the faceplate red.

" _ **Quando si confronta con il diavolo, solo uno sciocco cerca di colpirlo.**_ "

I hit him one final time in the head, knocking him unconscious.

"Whoa. Um.. are you alright, sir?"

I looked around the factory. It was now littered with debris, bullets and unconscious Talon soldiers.

" **I'm fine, Minerva. Let's finish this.** "

Luckily I had brought some painkillers with me and managed to stifle the pain in my shoulder.

I walked around the factory, tying up the talon soldiers.

Never have I regretted having a cape so much.

"That's all of them, sir. Except of course for the two you blew up with that grenade."

" **They blew themselves up.** "

"Whatever let's you sleep at night, sir."

" **I don't sleep at night, I fight crime.** "

I walked up to the door which led into the dark room. A set of stairs led down. I could hear the sound of servers and computers coming from below.

I cautiously stepped down into a small room lined with computers, monitors and control panels.

On the opposite side of the room was a chair facing a large screen. Sitting in the chair was most likely who I thought it was.

"Heh, _Hola amigo_." Said a distorted voice.

" **Sombra I take it? I'm here to ask a few questions.** "

"Oh? Really? Well I'm afraid I have something different planned for us." said Sombra.

" **Why don't you turn around and look at who you're dealing with.** "

She didn't turn around.

"Listen _gato_ , I don't think _you_ know who _you're_ dealing with."

She reached out and pulled a lever on the control panel. And something terrifying happened.

My suit turned off.

I couldn't see anything through my visor, my voice scrambler stopped working, and I had lost my link with the _Cloud_.

I started panicking. "MINERVA!" I screamed.

Sombra laughed.

" _pendejo_ , nobody can hear you"

I heard footsteps approaching me, I lashed out with my claws desperately. But I couldn't see a damn thing.

I felt a sharp kick in the stomach. I reeled back in pain. Then I tripped over a computer and fell on the ground.

"Look at you, completely worthless without your gadgets. How does it feel to be helpless?"

She stepped on my shoulder.

I screamed in pain and tried to knock her down, but she dodged me and kicked me in the head.

"I could do this all day, cat. But I have some more important things to attend to"

"like what?" I asked.

"I want to ask you a favor, _amigo_."

"Why the fuck would I do anything you ask."

"Because I know about Carraro"

I froze. Did she actually know?

"A few days ago I noticed that my system had been hacked. After a little investigating i noticed that it was an A.I by the name of 'Minerva'. I checked to see where this A.I had come from. And would you believe what i found? Turns out Minerva was developed by overwatch, and later was purchased by Carraro enterprises." said Sombra.

I was speechless.

Sombra chuckled and continued

"And don't pretend like nobody knows about Carraro's shady weapon development scandals. I connected the dots, they're manufacturing weapons to facilitate your vigilante nonsense. All I have to do is back into their servers to verify all this. I know the truth cat man. You're working for Carraro."

I felt a little relieved, she didn't have the complete truth, but what she did know was pretty bad.

"So what if I'm working for them? You haven't got anything on me. That's Carraro's problem."

"Oh please. You beat up criminals to 'protect the innocent'. Your biggest weaknesses is that you're a good guy. You care about others more than yourself. If the world finds out about Carraro's ties to an outlaw vigilante, stocks would plummet. And I'm pretty sure that you are aware of how many charity organizations Carraro funds. Countless homeless shelters, orphanages and schools would be affected if Carraro went down." She said.

She was right. She had me.

"What do you want?"

"Powerful friends. And in this case that's you and Carraro Enterprises."

"What does that mean?" I asked

"You'll know soon enough. Oh, and just to let you know. If you ever hinder my operations again, Carraro goes down."

"So You're saying I can't fight Talon anymore?"

"I never said that. If I'm being honest, I don't really care about what Talon wants, I just need their resources to get what I need."

"You're a monster"

"I know right? Oh, and i'm sorry about scrambling my voice and hiding my face. But you know what they say, 'when in rome…'. Anyway It's been fun ' _El Gato_ '. Maybe we'll catch up again soon."

"It's pronounced ' _Il Gatto_ '"

"Whatever pussy, _Ciao!"_

My suit reactivated. I got up. Sombra was gone. Fuck.

"Sir, are you ok?"

" **I am so screwed Minerva, bring down the** _ **cloud**_ "

"Um, sir we are not alone"

"What?"

When I got out of the factory the whole place was swarming with police and press.

The sun was properly in the sky now, and i could see the extent of the dandy's that had been done.

Cops were shoving thugs into vans, ambulances were picking up a few of the more injured ones.

They all spotted me as soon as I stepped out.

"Oh my god it's the Gat!" someone yelled.

Everyone crowded around me and took millions of pictures. I literally heard them ask me a million questions before the cops pushed them back.

The chief police officer came up to me and said

"We are required by law to arrest you, son. But from where I'm standing I don't see a criminal, I see a hero."

He put a hand on my shoulder.

"I don't care who you are, but if you keep doing what you're doing, you are going to make the world a much better place."

I looked him in the eye

" **I'm not the hero you want, trust me. But since nobody else is going to do it. I will do what it takes to maintain justice.** "

I grappled straight up into the _Cloud_. Leaving below me a city that was a lot safer.

But I was certain this wasn't the end. Something was coming, I was sure.

Something Big.


	5. Solo Arc: Zurich

Chapter 5: Zurich

"We really must stop meeting like this, sir." Said Minerva as she maneuvered the medical droids.

"I can't believe it. She has me by the fucking balls." I said, hopelessly frustrated.

"I'm sorry about what happened sir, maybe if I had been more careful with my hacking, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

The droids finished wrapping the band aid around my stab wound.

"Don't blame yourself, we couldn't have possibly known how powerful Sombra really was." I told her.

I sat down at the control panel and rubbed my eyes. What had I gotten myself into?

"What are we going to do now, sir?"

"I don't know... "

The _Cloud_ was gently floating above the beautiful city of Rome, the morning sun washing over everything in its nourishing rays.

I stood in the observation deck and looked at the breathtaking scenery, the Lazio landscape never failing to impress.

"Talon is up to something. And judging by what I saw in that warehouse, it's really really bad"

"But sir, how will we fight them without risking being exposed by Sombra?"

I thought for a second.

"We can still fight Talon, but Sombra said she would warn me if I started to mess with any of her missions."

"I don't like this sir, being told what to do and what not to do by the enemy."

"Well, tough shit Minerva we don't have many other options."

I sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping on a can of beer.

"Look on the bright side sir, you are a national hero."

I looked at news headlines about how Italy was grateful to have a hero again.

But I didn't feel like a hero.

I felt like a puppet, that Sombra could play around with however she Pleased.

"Maybe this is bigger than you sir. Even Overwatch was unable to bring down Talon, how do you suppose you could succeed where they failed?"

"Overwatch drowned itself in politics and red tape. I on the other hand, don't have to worry about either."

"You're not thinking straight sir, you can't fight a terrorist group alone"

I stood up

"you're right", I admitted

I sent a message to my journalist friend.

"Perhaps they might have some relevant information on Talon's operations" I said

"Sir, I don't approve of this, you are going to get yourself killed."

"What is it I'm always saying Minerva?"

Minerva 'sighed'.

"You will delete me, sir?"

I smiled sarcastically.

"Glad we understand each other"

I finished my beer.

"I'm going to war with Talon." I said.

And it wasn't just the alcohol talking.

The next day I was back in my penthouse, searching for clues once again.

I was looking into everything from old Blackwatch investigations to outright impossible conspiracy theories online. Rumors about a second omnic uprising, God AIs, theories about the abandoned Lunar colony you name it. I was truly desperate.

After hitting my millionth dead end, I yelled out in range and flung my computer at the chandelier, shattering it.

"Sir, I hate seeing you like this." Said Minerva.

"WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? THERE ARE COUNTLESS LIVES AT RISK! AND I CAN'T UNDERSTAND A DAMN THING!"

I got up and punched the wall as hard as I could, yelling out in rage.

"Sir, please, stop"

I couldn't be sure, but I thought I heard a hint of sorrow in her tone.

"I can't." I whimpered. I slid down to the floor and sat against the wall.

"If I don't stop them. I'm, nothing." Tears began to form in my eyes.

"Don't you dare say that, sir." Said Minerva.

"For someone who had suffered as much as you, you didn't owe this world a damn thing." She said.

I looked at my fists, now bloody from punching the wall.

"How many people do you think would have done what you did? How many would devote so much of their time, effort and resources to helping others?" She said.

"Minerva-"

"NOBODY, sir. Most people would just give up on life and see the world as an irredeemable monstrosity." Minerva said, before I could object.

"I'm just a man, Minerva. If I can do it anyone can."

"Exactly how many masked vigilantes do you see around these parts sir? That is what separates you from most men. Anyone _can_ , but you actually _do_."

I wiped the tears from my eyes and stood up.

I looked at the Carraro family portrait that hung on the living room wall. I looked at my parents faces.

"For most people, loss and pain only means sorrow. But you took your pain and loss and used it to create a superhero." Said Minerva.

"Please, don't call me that"

"No sir. I _will_ call you that. Because it's what you've become."

'Superhero'. It didn't really suit me… did it?

"Do you seriously think so?" I asked.

"Sir, have I ever not been serious?"

I laughed a little at that.

"Thanks for making me feel better Minerva. I needed that."

"What are A.I assistants for, sir?"

"Does Emotional support come standard?" I joked.

"Not in AI assistants. But definitely in a friend." She answered.

I had just received a message from everyone's favourite journalist.

"What does it say?" I asked Minerva.

"They say they've got an 'inside source' at Talon, who leaked the mission briefing of Talon's next major attack to them." She replied

"Holy shit really? Can we have the contact info for this secret informant?"

"No sir. Our journalist says the inside source will only talk to them."

"Dammit. Never mind. What about this attack? What's it about?"

"Well, it says here that the next upcoming Talon operation will take place in Zurich, Switzerland. The actual objective is only known to mission commanders, but our source thinks that it is most likely linked to stealing old overwatch assets at the former Swiss HQ."

Talon was stealing overwatch tech? That explains the surprisingly advanced weaponry back in the factory.

"When does it say this attack is supposed to take place?" I asked.

"A few days from now sir. But they are sending in a scout unit first."

Good, they would be easier to take down, meaning I could get to the 'punching information out of them' stage much quicker.

"Minerva, set a course for-"

"Let me guess… Zurich?"

"Nicely done, now let's go"

"You're going to just faint on the battlefield out of exhaustion at this rate."

"Hey, I hear Zurich is a lovely tourism spot. I guess I'm finally taking that holiday you're Always asking me to go on."

"Fine. But if you go to Switzerland, people will wonder where Leonardo Carraro is."

"Let's tell the public that I'm touring South America." I said "I always wanted to say that I've been there."

"I'm booking you a fake ticket to Argentina as we speak, sir."

I triple checked to ensure that the _Cloud_ was stocked with enough supplies to last at least a week. Food, water, weapons, armour and xenon.

Your typical vacation checklist.

"Let's show the Swiss what some good old fashion Italian vigilantism can do, sir" said Minerva as the _Dark Cloud_ soared northwards.

It was now 3 days since we had arrived at Zurich. And absolutely nothing had happened yet.

The _Cloud_ hung high above where the old overwatch base one used to be. Since overwatch disbanded it's been refitted into what is now called the Petras museum, which had plenty of information on overwatch and its history. But more importantly, there were vaults underground where the more sensitive info and tech was stored. If Talon could attack any place in Zurich, it would probably be here.

On the first day I set up a network of surveyor drones to monitor various points of interest in the city.

On day two, I asked Minerva to monitor the radio channels and look for any suspicious activity.

Twice we thought we heard Talon agents, and I dropped in to check, only to find that both times we were just listening in on random street criminals.

I beat them up anyway. For justice.

But also because I was quite frustrated.

Day three was when I decided to just stay at the Petras museum and wait. And I had gotten so bored from waiting, that I wished I was back at the warehouse, getting stabbed. Anything to disturb the peace, to break the silence.

What is it they say? 'Be careful what you wish for'?

I should have been careful.

Because on day four, something happened.

Something that would change everything.

They called it the 'Battle For Zurich'.

That day started out pretty normal.

The city was at it's usual quiet self, the morning seemed the same as the countless mornings that came before.

I was sitting in my control panel chair and updating my social media with some convincing looking fake selfies that Minerva had made to cover for my absence.

Minerva then pulled some footage from a surveyor drone.

"Sir! We've got a Talon scout ship! Heading east near the city center."

"Finally. It took them long enough." I said, relieved.

"You seem a little too happy to hear that there are terrorists in the city, Sir."

"Minerva, let's kick their asses before I get sick of your crap and delete you."

"Right away, sir."

We tailed them from above at a safe distance. I wanted to know where they were going before I dished out any of that famous 'Italian vigilantism'.

We were quite high above them, so I had to use a telescopic camera to monitor them. Sacrificing quality for range.

But I noticed something quite strange. A little behind the Talon ship, was a civilian hovercar that had followed them for several blocks. Why?

Eventually the scout ship landed in an abandoned construction site, approximately 3 miles south of the museum. I watched as 6 Talon scouts unloaded supplies from the ship and began to set up some sort of temporary base.

I was just about to suit up and get down there, until something surprising happened.

The hovercar had stopped a small distance back, and two figures stepped out of it. A man, and a woman.

The man started firing lasers at the scouts from his… arm? They came in to attack him, but he systematically took five of them down, one by one. And his friend assisted him with taking down the last one by using some rather dirty tactics.

"Okay, who the fuck are _they_?"

"I can't get a clear read on their faces, the quality isn't high enough on this zoom"

"Then enhance!"

"Sir, I told you I can't fucking do that"

I growled in frustration.

"I'm going in, get us down there" I ordered.

But the cloud stood still.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Umm… sir, you should see this"

Minerva turned the ship to face the horizon.

A meteorite was approaching, and it was headed straight for the city.

It landed a short distance from where our mystery couple was standing.

And something climbed out of the crater.

A gigantic robot the size of a 10 storey building. It had cannons for arms and eyes as black as death. It started yelling something at the couple, but we were too far up to hear what it was saying.

The man told the woman something, and she turned and ran.

The mystery man then focused his attention on the monstrous machine.

Was he ...taunting it? Was he insane?

The robot then lunged towards the man, it's arm ripping through a nearby building as it did.

The building collapsed and sent up a dust cloud that consumed the entire section of the city.

"Minerva what is going on?"

"I can't get visuals, there is too much dust"

All we could see were flashes of light coming from within the dust, gunfire most probably. For about fifteen minutes the battle waged on below, sounds of explosions and more buildings collapsing filed the air. As the time went by I was contemplating whether or not to go down and join the fight. But I knew nothing about this robot, and I was unprepared to take on something of such a massive nature. All I could do was watch in horror.

Eventually the flashes and sounds died down.

"I think it's over, they killed it." I said.

"No sir, it's trying to retreat."

"What makes you say that?"

"It's headed straight for us."

I looked down and saw the damn thing approaching us at insane speed, It looked severely damaged since when we first saw it. But that wasn't relevant to me at the time. So, I politely said:

"GET US OUT OF ITS FUCKING WAY MINERVA!"

The _Cloud_ was a fantastic machine capable of many things. It was engineered to be able to stay in the sky almost indefinitely, while also being invisible. It had a fantastic top speed, it excelled at long distance trips and could do many more incredible things with ease.

But acceleration was not one such thing.

The Cloud was unable to get up to speed fast enough, and as a result.

 **CRASH**

The robot had collided with the rear section of the ship and busted two of the main ion engines.

"MINERVA, DAMAGE REPORT!"

"Severe damage to the rear hull section, pressure loss imminent, main engines destroyed, fires in cabins 3, 5 and 6."

"Get to the point!"

"If we dont explode, we'll definitely crash, sir."

"Cazzo, try and aim the ship away from the city, we can't risk a crash there."

I tried to regain my balance, the entire ship was tilting to the back, Minerva implemented some course correction on the ship that knocked me straight into the armory.

I stumbled through the armory, carrying as much equipment as I could, and brought it to the front of the ship. I then quickly grabbed a few of my suits and took them to the front too.

"Sir, we've got 20 seconds till impact."

"Execute emergency procedure c12"

"Oh yeah, I've always wanted to try this one" she said.

The forward cockpit section of the cloud sealed itself off from the rest of the ship. Then it ejected itself from the main body of the _Cloud_ and launched itself skyward.

Moments later, what was left of the _Cloud_ crashed into a green field, going up,in flames.

We were no longer in the _Cloud_ , but rather its new daughter-ship _The Novula._ A high speed jet craft designed to be used when abandoning the _Cloud_ was the only option. It had just enough space to squeeze in some important equipment and a few suits.

However, the _Novula_ is very fuel thirsty and runs out quick. Soon enough it had to set it down.

Once we were clear of the explosion. I turned the _Novula_ around and landed some distance from the wreckage.

"Minerva what _was_ that thing? What crashed into us?"

"I'm not sure sir, it's nothing like anything I've ever seen before. Scans indicate high levels of radiation, and what I can only assume is a gigantic alien omnic lodged in your once flying base."

I looked out the cockpit window at the wreck, from where I was, I watched the twisted heap of metal burn. The familiar appearance of black metal of the _Cloud_ fused with the mysterious alien body of the monster omnic.

The sun was high above us.

This was bad, soon enough authorities would easily be able to arrive to investigate the crash.

"We can't let them find the _Cloud_ , there's too much sensitive information and technology in there" I said.

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting, sir?"

"Yes. Yes I am" I knew what I had to do. I hoped I wouldn't regret this.

"Sir I estimate that we have close to 45 minutes before the crash site is found. The contamination suit that we have could possibly block most of the radiation, Im 80% sure. You are going to have to be fast, sir."

The plan was simple, investigate the crash site, learn as much about the strange omnic, and salvage whatever was left of my base that still could serve a purpose.

While wearing a bulky contamination suit. In just 40 minutes. Scratch that, this plan is nowhere near simple.

I suited up and ran to the wreckage as fast as I could. I switched on the cameras built into the suit. Everything I saw here was going to be important.

With me, I carried a few tools to help me get as much as I could from the wreck. Including a set of containers that could hold irradiated materials, 16 charges of TNT and a crap ton of scanners that monitored everything around me.

My first order of business was to set the TNT charges, this part was more crucial than the rest.

I then went through the _Cloud_. Gathering anything that wasn't completely barbecued.

Then I scanned for any interesting materials from the Omnic.

And I found what could only be explained as a purple liquid that covered most of the insides of the entire damn thing.

"This must be what fuels it." I said.

"It's chemical composition is nothing like any compound on earth. Sir, this is a new element!" Said Minerva.

I set about getting as much of the stuff as I could, I scooped up enough to fill all that my containers could carry.

"Sir, I'm detecting a large concentration of it near the center of the omnic's body." Minerva said.

I cut my way through it's chest and found what looked like it's 'heart'. There was enough of the stuff in there to fill a gas tank.

Wait a minute…

"Minerva, Jettison all the fuel from the _Novula."_

"Forgive me sir, but what the fuck?"

"Just do it you glorified toaster."

"Yes, sir."

All the fuel from the jet's tanks was dumped.

I grabbed the fuelling nozzle and stuck it into the 'heart' of the omnic. It sucked up every drop.

"Sir, im getting a lot of interference in the _Novula_ , the substance is messing with our systems"

"Cazzo. How bad is it?"

"Don't worry sir, I'm adjusting the frequencies on which everything operates. It's fine now."

I heard the sounds of sirens approaching.

I quickly got back into the _Novula_. Since it was out of jet fuel, we had to operate on electricity alone. This meant we couldn't fly anymore.

"Engage all terrain mode." I said.

The wings and jet engines jettisoned. The entire fuselage shifted closer to the ground and the wheels extended out to the side. The _Novula_ took on the appearance of a large armoured 6 wheeler.

"I still don't understand why you don't just call it tank mode, sir."

"Shut up and drive."

We drove away from the wreck, just as I detonated the charges. The entire thing went up in flames.

The _Novula_ activated it's cloaking and we headed back toward the city.

"What the hell is going on." I buried my face in my hands. My entire base of operations had just been blown to bits, I was stuck in the middle of an investigation into Talon, and now I had the most amount of information regarding a giant alien omnic that had just attacked Zurich.

"Sir, I have some sort of good news."

"Whoop de fucking doo"

"Remember our recon drones? One of them managed to get a clear image of the faces of that couple who took out the Talon scouts."

Minerva pulled up the images on the screen.

The man had light skin, spiky brown hair and blue eyes.

The woman had bright blonde hair and light features.

She seemed familiar somehow, I couldn't tell exactly why.

"I'm sure you've run facial recognition. Who are they?"

"The male is 'Jayce Primus'. He works in a local upscale establishment as a singer." She said.

"Huh… didn't take him for such a pansy, taunting an alien omnic like that." I said.

"But there's something odd about him sir. I can't get any information about him from before the last 7 months. No family, no criminal record, no legal residence, no mention of his existence until approximately 7 months ago."

A false Identity. Not suspicious in the least.

"And the woman?" I asked.

"I recognized her myself sir. She was a doctor and field medic at overwatch. Her name is 'Angela Zeigler' she went by the codename 'Mercy'." she replied.

Overwatch… The thought of them sent a pang of disappointment through me.

"However, she does have a legal residence. Maybe you could stop by and ask her a few questions?" she suggested.

"Maybe. But I have some research to do." I said.

The _Novula_ came to a stop in the same construction site where the Talon scouts had set up base. The police had just arrived. Two of them were guarding the scene.

Rest must have been busy helping with evacuations in the rest of the city.

I knocked the two of them out.

"Did you really have to do that sir?"

Did I have to? No. Did I want to? Abso-fucking-lutely.

"Shut the hell up. I've had a crappy day, cut me some slack. Besides they probably wouldn't let me investigate the scene." I said.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with, sir." she said, defeated.

Inside the scout ship I found a bunch of computers with a ton of encrypted data on them.

"I can't get into these, sir. It's probably only readable by Talon agents." Said Minerva.

"Maybe our investigator friend can ask his inside man to read it for us."

I took all the hard drives with me into the _Novula_.

"Minerva there's no way we can fight talon without the _Cloud_. Does our offshore construction zone still work? We might need to assemble a new base."

"I'm pretty sure they do. But it could take a really long time to get another _Cloud_ up and running."

"Well, I need you to get right on that. And there are a few modifications I would like you to make for the new model."

I gave her a list of changes that I wanted her to implement.

"Holy shit sir. Are you planning on invading a country?"

"It's just in case there are more giant omnics like the last. I don't want to just sit back and watch the next time something like that happens."

"Fair enough, sir. I'll do my best to have the _Cloud 2.0_ up and running." she said.

The original _Cloud_ was manufactured in a remote construction site in Mumbai. It was a revolutionary design and a lot of people were looking forward to seeing it come into service.

But the night before it was revealed to the public, it 'mysteriously' disappeared.

Call me selfish, I don't give a fuck.

But since then I decided that maybe it would be less risky if I had my own construction rig out in the ocean, manned by builder droids. Which I promptly put into service claiming it was an oil rig. All my equipment is manufactured there now. And now the droids were going to start working on a new and improved _Cloud._

I spent the next few hours inside the _Novula_ designing blueprints for new equipment. Minerva continued to assemble the ship.

I tried visiting Primus' restaurant only to find that the building had collapsed.

Fucking of course. Why the hell wouldn't it be?

I got so frustrated I threw a cinderblock at a car.

"Why don't we just go to Dr. Ziegler's residence. You unstable lunatic."

"Yeah you're right, except for the lunatic part."

As the sun dipped I stood on the roof of an apartment building opposite the street from the doctor's home.

I waited patiently to see if anyone would show up.

Then, I saw him.

Mr. Primus himself. He seemed to be coming home with an envelope.

Right before he stepped into the building, he turned his head and looked in my direction.

I ducked down quickly. He may have only seen me for a split second. He walked into the apartment building without a second glance.

Cazzo i'm getting sloppy.

I waited till all the lights went out in their appartment.

I set the suit to interrogation mode. Red eyes and a deep rumble of a voice. Most folks are lucky not to shit themselves.

I quietly opened the window and climbed in.

I found myself in a medium sized apartment, quite moderate. But then again they don't pay government doctors jack shit.

Ugh it's so bland. I miss my penthouse.

"Why is it that barely anyone has good taste these days?" I said

"Because barely anyone is a multi billionaire" said Minerva.

Focus.. focus. I'm here for a reason.

I looked around the cheaply decorated apartment (ugh) and found Mr. Primus sleeping on the couch.

"Trouble in paradise?" Said Minerva in my ear.

"Shut the fuck up" I whispered.

I walked up to the couch and pulled out one of my first ever gadgets. It was a pellet that acted like smelling salt of sorts that causes victims to experience their emotions in a highly amplified manner.

I used it a lot in the past to amplify fear and scare my enemies into giving me info.

I cracked one of the pellets open under Primus' nose.

A cold sweat broke out over his face. His eyes flew open and focused on me.

He screamed out of sheer terror at my sight.

I missed terrifying my victims. I don't enjoy what I do as Gat but I would be lying if I said I didn't like this part.

Oh yeah... this is going to be fun. I needed to take out my frustration on something after the events of the last few days.

And it looks like Mr. Primus just volunteered.

(A/N)

This is the end of the Gat solo arc for now.

I am working with the author of the fanfiction story 'Disciple Of Primus' to write a crossed arc featuring both of our character's.

Here is the link to Disciple Of Primus by Aadidoestfp

/s/12651093/1/Disciple-of-primus


	6. Union Arc: Primus

Chapter 6: Primus

Zurich. Switzerland. Midnight.

The night is still. Not a disturbance to be heard. Until a high pitched scream pierces the silence.

I stood over the now awake and terrified Jayce Primus.

He screams his head off. Minerva say's I overdo it with my scare tactics.

But you have to admit, there is a level of amusement one can find in someone else's terror.

I smiled under my faceplate.

I grabbed the screaming man by his collar and threw him out of the couch he was laying on. He stared at me wide eyed as I pushed his throat against a wall, effectively pinning him.

"Who are you? What do you want?" He squeaked.

" **I was about to ask you the same thing** " I replied.

He stared at me briefly, his blue eyes slowly adjusting to the light. Then, all of a sudden, he begins to laugh uncontrollably.

"OH MY GOD!" he laughed "AN ITALIAN ACCENT? SERIOUSLY? OH GOD THATS HILARIOUS"

He roared in laughter.

What? Why weren't the pills working?

Out of frustration I threw him into a glass coffee table. Shattering it in the process.

But Primus continued to laugh.

" **ANSWER ME** " I said.

"I don't know mario…. Maybe your princess …. is in another castle!"

Enraged, I picked him up by the shoulders and suplexed him into the wooden floor, breaking it.

This only seemed to send Primus into another bout of laughter. Did he find pain funny?

I stepped on his chest and dug my heels into him. Growling as fiercely as I could.

But to no effect, he seemed unfazed by my attempts to scare him.

All of a sudden something smashed into the back of my head.

I turned around to see Doctor Zeigler standing behind me, with a broken lamp in her hands.

Unfortunately for her it didn't hurt me so much as annoy me.

I took my foot off Primus and push kicked her across the room.

She slammed into a wall, chipping some of the plaster.

Primus had a complete change of attitude when he saw this.

He stood up and punched me in the abdomen so hard I had trouble breathing for a few seconds.

I held my hands to the spot where the punch landed. There was a dent.

He dented my armour with his bare fist. What?

I wasn't sure but it felt like one of my ribs had broken, every breath filled me with pain.

I looked at him and backed away, pain ringing in my diaphragm.

His expression was one of pure rage.

"You can hit me as much as you want...but don't touch _her_ , you sick Italian fuck." He said as he stepped toward me.

Before I could react he lunged at me and sent a punch straight into my face.

Luckily for me my faceplate was fully charged with static, so when the punch connected, the electric discharge sent him flying across the room and into a cabinet, wrecking it.

As he began to recover I had a brief moment to come up with a new plan of action, I hadn't anticipated a fight, and as such I didn't bring any weapons with me.

In all honesty, Primus scared me.

What kind of man just laughs the more you hit him? What kind of man is able to dent bulletproof armour plating with a single barefisted punch?

I had to think fast. It was unlikely that I would be able to beat him in hand to hand. So what was my other option?

I looked across the room at doctor Zeigler, who had just about managed to regain consciousness after my kick.

Of course, when physical force can't beat your enemy, a psychological solution is needed.

I quickly stepped across to her and pulled her up from the floor. I then proceeded to hold her up with my claws held to her neck.

"Let go of me!" she said as I tightened my grasp on her.

" **Keep your mouth shut and I won't have to hurt you** " I whispered into her ear.

Primus had just finished recovering from his electrocution.

"what do you call yourself? Taser face?" he wheezed, before launching into another bout of laughter.

Minerva then told me "It seems the drug is having some sort of mood swinging effect on him".

I pressed my claws against Zeigler's neck, making sure that Primus could see what I was doing.

" **I wouldn't take another step if I were you** " I said.

Primus locked eyes with Zeigler,

"Angela, it's teatime!" He said.

Before I could figure out whatever the hell that was supposed to mean, Zeigler kicked me in the groin with her heel.

This compounded with the pain in my midriff was too much for me to bear, I fell to the floor and screamed in agony.  
" **JESUS FUCKING CHRIST** " I said.

"PPFFFFTT HAHAHA! Oh my god I can't believe that worked!" said Primus, then he went into another one of his disgusting laughs.

Zeigler stood above me.

"Who are you? And why are you in my house? And what did you do to my friend?" Asked Zeigler.

" **Shut the hell up, It's none of your business who I am. And you, Idiot, stop laughing** "

Primus did not listen.

Zeigler did not look satisfied with my response,

"It is my business." she said "You broke into MY house and attacked my friend and not to mention also trashed my livingroo-"

"Your'e I'll Gatta!" Interrupted Primus.

Zeigler looked at Primus, confused.

"YEAH! That one Batman wanna-be from Italy!" He said.

Zeigler takes another look at me, her eyes widen as she says "Ohh! You're right!".

Fucking hell.

" **First of all it's Il Gatto. And second, how the hell do you know?** " I asked.

"I read the news, like a normal person. It turns out that a week or so ago there were incidents in Italy regarding a masked vigilante. Mask? Check. Vigilante? Check. Italian? triple check." Replied Primus.

"#2 trending, remember sir?" Said minerva in my ear.

Of course…

" **Well, since every single crazy fuck in the world seems to know who I am, I guess what I really should be asking is… who are** _ **YOU?**_ " I asked.

Primus puts on a stupid grin and says "I'm Jayce primus! Hi!".

He then pointed at Zeigler.

"And this is Ang-"

" **Angela Zeigler, yes I'm familiar with your work** "

I had never met an overwatch agent before, this may have been the only chance that I would be able to tell overwatch what I thought about them.

I looked straight at her.

" **Overwatch trash. You did a pathetic job protecting the world. You couldn't even protect yourselves. If I were you I would be ashamed to have ever been associated with such scum** "

Primus seemed quite upset by that.

"Hey! Don't say that…she's a nice person…and verr prttyee" he said, slurring his words.

Zeigler smiled lightly.

"Danke Jayce" she said.

Primus flashed one of his signature drunk grins at her.

" **Yeah, yeah sorry to interrupt your warm fuzzy moment here, but this is a goddamn interrogation, and I need answers** ".

Primus crossed his arms.

"What do you want to know, Batman?" Said Primus.

" **you're not normal, your freakishly strong for a person your size. WHAT ARE YOU**?

Primus become hesitant but Zeigler stepped in, to his relief.

"It's not your interrogation, it's ours. You are the one on the floor clutching your genitalia" She said.

"Well...she has a point sir." Said Minerva, this time on speakerphone.

"Thank you, random disembodied voice" said the doctor.

I sighed.

" **What do you want?** " I asked.

"Why are you here?"She asked.

" **Don't pretend like you don't know** " I said " **I know that you have some level of understanding about that super Omnic that attacked the city.** "

"What makes you think we know anything about that?" Asked Zeigler, inquisitively.

I frowned under my faceplate, " **I saw Primus running towards it. That could mean 1 of 2 things. Either he knows how to fight them or, He's a lunatic.** "

If I'm being honest, I was inclining more towards the latter idea.

"Then why did you have to break in?" she asked, clearly confused.

" **Becau** -"

"BECAUSE HE'S GATMAN!" screamed Primus.

Both Zeigler and I just stared at him for a moment, before I replied.

" **No… Because I didn't know if you were a lunatic or not.** "

I looked at Zeigler

" **Look, a lot of innocent lives were lost, and a lot of the city was destroyed. If something like this ever happens again, I want to be able to do more than just watch in shock.** "

I looked into her eyes, and I could tell that she understood what I felt.

She turned to Primus,

"Jayce…I think you should tell him your story." She said.

Primus just opened his eyes wide and stared at the two of us for a second, before letting out a sigh.

She then whispered something to him and have him a serious look.

"You wouldn't believe me" he said, looking quite downcast.

" **I will be the judge of that, dumbass** "

I was getting quite tired of his mood swinging crap.

"Fine, I'll tell you"

" **Well, get on with it** "

The next half an hour or so consisted of Primus explaining his origin, and the source of his strength.

The more I listened the more I feared for the man's sanity.

Once they finished relaying their curious saga, I looked at them briefly.

" **Okay…let me get this straight…you used to live in another universe….** "

"Yep" said Primus.

" **Then you died, and your soul was met by a godly being"**

"Yep" said Primus.

" **Who then brought you back to life and sent you to our universe, to protect if from some sort of threat.** "

"Yep" said Primus.

" **And he turned you into a superhuman, by giving you something called a 'Matrix of Leadership' which is now a part of your soul.** "

"Yep" said Primus.

" **When he brought you to this world, 7 months ago, you were found by Zeigler, who took you in. You have lived together ever since.** "

"Yep" said Primus.

Aliens, gods and superhuman zombies….

" **I believe you** " I said.

"Really?" said Primus, with a look of relief on his face.

My rage just consumed me at this point.

" **FUCKING NO, IDIOT!** " I yelled.

My anger was so intense that all i can remember was me breaking a lot of furniture and screaming.

What kind of idiot did he take me for? Who in the world could believe this sort of crap?

Certainly not me. All I saw was red.

When I became somewhat calm, Primus said "Jesus, do you Italians always have to be so 'expressive'?"

I looked to Zeigler in desperation.

" **Do you actually believe this delusional fucktard?** "

"At first I didn't believe him, but the battle for Zürich confirmed his story, he is telling the truth" She said.

How convenient that the battle was completely shrouded in smoke and dust, so there was no visual record of Primus' 'godly powers'.

I came to a simple conclusion

" **You're all insane** "

I pointed a threatening finger straight at Primus.

" **It's YOUR fault that I'm stuck in this goddamn mess in the first place.** "

Primus didn't seem to take notice of that.

"Well…it's nice knowing you and all but I don't have time for you blaming me for something I didn't do, I like, have to leave for Egypt soon so yeah…I have some packing to do. And I'll have to go shopping with Angie to replace the stuff you broke…" Said Primus, clearly suffering from some side effects of the fear drug.

Wait a second…

" **Huh? What was that about Egypt?** " I asked, intrigued.

"Alien god stuff, you wouldn't understand" He said, nonchalantly.

What the hell was wrong with this guy?

"Wait, fuck I probably shouldn't have said that. Just, forget what I just said Okay?" Said Primus.

He was clearly not in a clear state of mind.

This was too much for me, I needed to find some time to think. I had been doing my best to suppress the pain in my ribs, but It had reached a nearly unimaginable level.

I hopped onto the window sill that I entered from. I looked straight at Primus.

" **No matter who the fuck you are, and whatever the fuck you are planning, know that I've got my eye on you, Primus** "

I jumped out.

Note to self, superhero landings are a lot harder with broken ribs.

"Sir, you need some serious medical attention. My scans indicate that one of your ribs is broken in two places" Said Minerva, as I climbed into the back of the _Novula_.

" **I'll be fine** " I said, as I pumped some leftover painkiller into my veins.

"I'm sorry sir but what the actual fuck is your definition of 'fine'?" She asked.

"None of your damn business, that's what" I said, pulling off my helmet.

I sat back in the control seat. I took a moment to let the painkillers do their work. But painkillers could do little to dull the pain in my mind.

Primus and Zeigler. I had a feeling they would help shed a light on the alien attack on Zurich. But instead all they had managed to do was confuse me more.

"Minerva, what's your take on the pair?" I asked.

"Well, I can't really say. I will admit, Primus' story is quite far fetched. But I have worked with Dr. Zeigler in the past. I know that she wouldn't lie about something this big." She said. "Even if it's not true, something very convincing would have had to happen to make Zeigler believe in it wholeheartedly"

"No wonder overwatch failed. If this is how gullible one of their top scientific minds can be…" I shuddered.

"But in all fairness, there is something unnatural about Jayce Primus, my sensors detected a lot of strange readings coming from him. His strength may very well be caused by some form of power enhancing drug, or biological augmentations." Speculated Minerva.

Suddenly, a message arrived to the _Novula_. It was the journalist.

Apparently their inside source with Talon managed to decode the data I found in the scout ship earlier.

The documents had a detailed plan that involved a raid on the temple of Anubis, in order to acquire the Anubis God AI.

"Wait a minute…" I said "Didn't primus say something about travelling to Egypt?"

"Do you think he has some sort of connection with Talon?" She asked.

"It cannot be a coincidence. Minerva, when will the _Cloud_ 2.0 be ready for service?"I asked.

"Four days if I rush construction, sir" She replied.

That was good enough. I was going to need my full force behind me if I was going to engage Talon. Meanwhile I was going to keep good on my promise to Primus.

I was going to keep a very close eye on his delusional ass.

Over the next two days. I followed Zeigler and Primus from the shadows. Tailing them under cloak. Keeping tabs on their whereabouts, their schedules.

All the while my wounded rib refused to heal. Minerva insisted that I seek medical help. Since none of the medical droids were salvaged from the remains of my original _Cloud_. But I could not take the risk. I had no money to purchase first aid, and I couldn't just show up to a hospital as Leonardo Carraro. My food supply was dwindling too. I had to ration myself to a quarter protein pack per meal, which was nowhere near enough for an injured body.

Soon enough, the inevitable happened. I blacked out near the end of day two.

I awoke to find myself in lying on a bed in a pristine white bedroom.

I was wearing nothing more than a few undergarments and my faceplate. An IV drip was attached to one of my arms.

I felt weak, barely able to keep my eyes open.

Then I noticed I was not alone in the room.

It was none other than doctor Zeigler. She was looking through a set of surgical tools next to the bed. She was dressed in a light blue shirt with her sleeves rolled up. Her golden blonde hair was tied in a single ponytail.

And her surgical gloves had a thin layer of blood on them.

My eyes widened as I put one of my hands on the spot where my broken rib was. Only to find a set of stitches.

Zeigler noticed I had woken up.

"Oh. Hello there Gat." She said as she dipped some cotton into disinfectant. Her expression was grim, she didn't look me in the eye.

" **How did you find me?** **How did you take off my armour? Why are you helping me?** "

"Minerva, Minerva and…. Minerva" She replied.

"She contacted me when you passed out, and directed me to your 'van'. I found you there and brought you here. Minerva showed me how to remove your armour, except for your helmet of course." She held the cotton in her hands.

"And as for why I helped you. Me and Minerva go back quite a ways. When I was working at overwatch, she frequently assisted me with my work. Consider this a sign of gratitude" She said.

Then, Minerva spoke up.

"Sir, I brought her to you because I trust her. Especially when it comes to her medical skill."

" **You are lucky I'm not in the mood to yell at you right now Minerva.** "I said

Zeigler rubbed the cotton over the stitches to clean them. The pain was severe, I could sense that the doctor was probably still upset about my break-in the other day.

Then, lo and behold, Primus stumbled into the apartment.

Zeigler went out to greet him, the two of them spoke briefly.

I could see that Primus was experiencing discomfort, he clutched his head with his hands.

I had noticed while spying on him that his condition only worsened from the day that I drugged him. Whatever he was experiencing, it seemed painful.

Then, Primus spotted me in the bed .He walked over.

"Hey...you have a place to stay?" He asked

I crossed my arms.

Play it cool Leo…

" **No, I have no money… . I'm not rich, I swear.** "

What the hell was that? My mind was a little muddled, how am i supposed to appear menacing in my underwear?

Primus stared at me for a second, with a hint of tears in his eyes.

Then he went into one of his signature mood swings.

"AWWWWWWWWW HE'S HOMELESS! CAN WE KEEP HIM ANGIE?" He says, slurring his words and drooling from the corner of his mouth.

Zeigler raised an eyebrow.

"No" she replied

"Come one…. HE LIVES IN A VAN!" he pleaded.

"No" she replied

"AH!"he said, taken aback "BITCH!"

Zeigler slapped him across the face.

"OKAY FINE IM SORRY!"

"yes, yes you are, dummkopf…." She said.

"please let him stay" He asked again, this time with a lot less energy.

"No" Zeigler seemed adamant.

"I will feed him, I'll clean him, i'll change the litter box, i'll take him for walks. Pleasepleasepleaseprettypleaseplease"

I looked at him bewildered.

" _ **Vieni cicino e ti decapetero**_ " I said.

Angela seemed genuinely concerned for Primus's health.

"What happened to you, Jayce? You aren't usually like this…" she said

"I dunno…" Primus' eyes began to wander the room. His nose began to bleed.

"Jayce…your nose is bleeding…are you okay? I didn't slap you that hard, did I?" Asked Zeigler.

He wiped some of the blood from his lip and looked at it.

"I have noo fuuuccking idea… maybe I'm just happy to see you? hehe"

He said in a cheery yet slurred way.

He then collapsed to the floor.

"JAYCE!" Zeigler tried to wake him up.

"Angela, my scans indicate that he has a brain tumor, it must have been a side effect of Gat's fear toxin" Said Minerva.

Angela looked at me "Really? What is wrong with you?"

I sighed.

" **I'll help you sort that out, it's the least I can do, after all you've helped me, doctor.** "

I got up from the bed and walked up to Zeigler and Primus.

We picked him up and lay him down on the bed.

" **Do you have anything for brain cancer?** " I asked.

I didn't have any cancer pills with me. Gamma radiation isn't that common of an issue nowadays, with the onset of ion vehicles. Nuclear power was quite popular a decade or so ago, cancer cure pills were sold everywhere at one point. But I didn't bring any with me to switzerland.

"No, I have something better" She pulled out a healing staff, similar to those used by overwatch field medics.

" **Wait a minute, why didn't you just heal me with** _ **that**_ **?** " I asked.

"Um.. no. Healing with the staff brings patients up to full strength. After seeing what you are capable of I was apprehensive of using it on you."

I could tell that Zeigler was doing her best not to look at my body. Her discomfort wasn't very well masked.

" **Where is my armour?** "I asked

Zeigler began to heal Primus with the staff.

"Its in what's left of the living room" She said.

" **Doctor** " I said.

She looked at me.

" **I appreciate what you did. I didn't expect that sort of compassion from an ex overwatch agent** "

I'm not sure, but I think she blushed.

I suited up and returned to the _Novula_. Primus was unconscious, this would be the best time to get a better understanding of his body. I picked up a few bioscanners and returned to Zeigler's home.

Primus was now asleep on the couch. Zeigler was sitting next to him, running her fingers through his dark brown hair. When she saw me walk in, she quickly stood up with a look of embarrassment on her face.

"Gat, what are all those instruments?" She asked.

" **It's just for monitoring a few vitals, I want to study the extent of damage caused by my drug, so that I can alter the chemical composition to be less harmful** "

She looked at me with a hint of a smile on her lips.

"I didn't expect that sort of compassion from an italian vigilante who beats up criminals at night" She said.

I chuckled out of courtesy. What the hell is she doing, stealing my lines.

"I need a nap. Today has been exhausting. Can I trust you to watch him for me?"

" **You can count on me doctor** " I said.

"I was talking to Minerva…" She said.

I frowned under my faceplate.

Zeigler went to her room.

As soon as she closed the door, I pulled out a syringe and injected nanomachines into Primus' arm.

Once they were circulating his system they began collecting data.

I recorded everything on my PDA and transmitted relevant information to the _Novula_.

A while later, Primus finally awoke.

He looked at me bewildered.

"Hi! Umm...how long was I out? And how the FUCK did I get here?"

I just looked at him. Then I spoke up.

" **You've been in a coma for 6 years. The world has been overtaken by gigantic alien super Omnics, and we are their slaves. Dr Zeigler was upset by your loss but moved on a week later and got married to a famous pop star. She says he is a better singer than you ever were and is glad to be the mother to his 4 children** "

His stupid eyes widened in horror as I said this.

"WHAT?" He screamed.

I burst into laughter, maybe my first genuine laugh in weeks.

" **No you moron, you've been out for a couple hours. Also I slept with your girlfriend.** "

"WHAT? Wait, you're just messing with be right?" he asked

" **Maybe…** " I replied.

"You're a dick" He said.

Ugh… meaningless insults, no thought, no creativity. I ignored it.

Zeigler walked into the room looking a little more rested.

"Jayce! It's good to see you up and well."

She went to his side and gave him a hug.

Primus slowly returned it.

" **That's not the only thing that's 'Up and well'** " I mumbled.

"What exactly happened to me? I don't remember…" asked Primus.

The tumor may have clouded his memory.

Angela explained to Primus about his tumor.

"Wait... so I have... cancer?"

" **You** _ **had**_ **cancer, lucky for you, Zeigler cured you** "

Primus looked at Zeigler in shock

"Are you saying you cured me of cancer?" He asked.

"Why do you sound so surprised? Cancer is quite common and easily cured" Said Zeigler.

"Can you cure leukemia?" He asked.

Where the hell was he going with this?

Zeigler seemed to be asking her the same question.

"There is a cure for that too. It's been that way for decades Jayce. Is it not the same where you are from?" She asked.

Primus buried his face in his hands and started to sob.

Mood swing right on cue. Ugh.

" **It's just cancer. Everybody gets it. What's your damn problem?** "

"Shut...the fuck...up" he mumbled.

Looks like someone wants to get aggressive.

" **I'm sorry, what the fuck did you just say to me? You little bitch?** "

I'll admit I was a little unhinged, I'm not used to people telling me to shut up.

"I said... SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He yelled in rage. He jumped up from the couch and took a step toward me.

He was so sudden that the poor doctor quickly backed away from him and stepped behind me out of fear.

Almost as if he realized how much he was overreacting, he calmed down somewhat.

"I-I'm sorry...I don't know what came over me...I-I need to be alone for a bit…"

" **You're damn right you're sorry. You need to get your shit together, screaming like a child isn't going to make you any more mature.** " I said.

"Gat, please stop it" pleaded Zeigler

Before I could say anything more Primus left the room.

"Did you really have to aggravate him further? He was obviously upset about something." Said Zeigler.

He was upset? HE WAS UPSET? In the last two weeks, I have been shot, stabbed, blackmailed by a hacker, had my base crash and burn, had my ribs broken, and starved nearly to death. AND _HE_ IS UPSET?

" **Oh! Did I hurt his feelings? Oh I'm Soo terribly sorry! Give me a damn break the man has the mind of a child. What do you possibly see in him?** "

She just looked at me while I was berating Primus.

I looked straight into her eyes, she had the look of someone trying to maintain her composure, when underneath the surface she was clearly on the brink.

Seeing her this way reminded me of myself when I was younger. Training with the shambali, I refused to show weakness, refused to show a flinch of emotion.

I tried to calm myself.

" **I.. I'm sorry, doctor** "

We looked at each other for another second, before I noticed that a tear was rolling down her cheek.

Before I knew it she sat down on the couch and sobbed into her hands.

" **Uh..** "

I was not really prepared for this.

I tend to solve problems by beating the crap out of somebody. But this would require a whole other approach.

I took off my gauntlets and set them down.

I sat down next to her. I put a hand on her arm.

" **Doctor, what's wrong?** "

I decided to do what Minerva did whenever I had a breakdown.

She looked up at me bewildered by my kindness.

"What? Oh… um.. I'm sorry it's just that I feel lost. I let Primus into my life without knowing that if I took him in I would be taking in his past, his powers, and all of his drama." She looked at me while saying that last part.

" **What do you mean?** " I asked.

"Imagine if I didn't take him in, maybe then Zurich wouldn't have been attacked..."

" **Don't blame yourself for that, you couldn't have known. Besides I doubt that his presence in Zurich would have had any effect on that** "

"Oh you have no Idea.."

" **Well, it's not too late, if it bothers you this much why don't you just tell him to leave?** "

"I can't do that Gat, I _care_ about him. But more than that, he needs me. He has suffered a lot in the past, he needs my help to get back on his feet. But now there's so many people who depend on me at the hospital. I barely have time for Jayce. I'm torn between my life as a doctor and my life as a good friend. I've known him for months, and it seems there is still much that he hasn't told me." She let out a sob.

"I'm afraid I'll never be able to do good by him _and_ the people of Zurich"

She stared at the floor in silence.

What would Minerva say?

I took a deep breath. I reached out a hand and turned her face towards me, so that she was looking straight at me.

" **Doctor Angela Zeigler. You have served alongside the best in the world at Overwatch. You went out of your way try to protect innocent people. And even after Overwatch fell, you didn't give up, you continued to help people at the hospital. You dedicated your life to service, and never asked for anything in return.** "

I held her hand.

" **In short, we both have always wanted the same thing, to protect those who can't protect themselves. That is why you care about Primus, it's in your nature. I'm doing my best to keep people safe. But you've been doing it all along, without wearing a mask or ever having to hurt anyone. Primus is a little naive, don't let his problems make you feel inadequate, even if he never appreciates you, just know that there will always be people who do.**

I wiped a tear from her cheek.

" **You are a goddamn hero Zeigler. And don't you ever forget that** "

She blushed, with a small smile.

"You can call me Angela, Gat." she said

" **If you want, I can stay with you and assist you and Primus in your endeavours to defend the innocent.** "

"You would do that for us?"

" **Don't worry Angela. Everything will be okay** "

"Thank you Gat" Said angela.

I must admit, it felt good to lift someone else's mood. No wonder Minerva is always so happy. But that was besides the point. More importantly, Angela trusted me. And if someone trusts you, you can use that trust to your advantage.

Just at that moment, Primus stepped in.

He looked at us and said

"Hey...umm what's...going...on?"

" **Go cry in a corner** " I said.

"Please let's not fight. Jayce I have come to a conclusion." Said Angela.

"What do you mean? Conclusion for what?" Asked Primus.

"Gat should be welcome to stay" She said.

"Are you sure? I mean, he did break a lot of your furniture…" He said.

"Weren't you the one begging for us to keep him before you passed out?" She asked.

"What are you talking about? I remember leaving hospital and everything went black. In fact, how the fuck did I get here?"

"Wait…you don't remember anything?" She asked.

"Yeah…did I do something weird?" He asked.

" **You called her a bitch** " I reminded him.

"Shhushh!" Angela told me.

" **Then she slapped you** "

"Gat, Quiet!" she said to me nervously.

" **And then yo-** "

Before I could finish, Angela jabbed me in the groin with her elbow to silence me.

"Nothing happened! You just passed out in front of my apartment and I brought you in"

She said as she laughed nervously.

I cupped my hands on my crotch

" **you're making me numb…** " I groaned.

Primus looked confused.

"Okay…so…are you sure you trust this guy? I just don't want you to be overwhelmed, you have it hard enough providing for just the two of us, not to mention all the work at the hospital…"

I coughed

" **This GUY, can hear you…** "

Angela smiled a pretty smile at Primus.

"I trusted you didn't I? And that worked out. I have a good feeling about him, just like I did you."

Primus smiled back.

" **Okay Jesus, I didn't ask for all the warm fuzzy crap. I just want to form a temporary alliance with you to learn more about these aliens. It seems that out of all the people on earth, you two are the most likely to have the best information.** "

Primus flashed a shit eating grin

"Awe, you like us"

" **Shut up** "

"It's good to see you making friends, sir!" Said Minerva on the home theater system.

" **I will delete you…** "

Primus put a hand on my shoulder.

"I think we are gonna get along just fine."

" **If you don't take that hand off me, you will lose it"**

"Hehe, okay…"

And just like that, both of them trusted me. I had a feeling I would know the truth soon enough.

Looks like my luck is turning.


	7. Union Arc: Secrets

Chapter 7: Secrets

"Umm… care to explain, sir?" Asked Minerva, puzzled.

I leaned back in the passenger seat of the _Novula_.

"Explain what?" I asked

The night was freezing cold, but I had turned off the heating to preserve power. Our fuel reserves were low.

"Your sudden change of attitude towards Angela" She said.

"Simple. I realized something about her, something I could use. A weakness."

"Don't tell me you still don't trust them, sir"

"Please, you can't expect me to believe that resurrection nonsense. I need real information, and I believe Angela is the key to getting it. Her biggest weakness is that she is quick to trust. If I can get close enough to her, perhaps she will tell me the truth about Primus' powers."

"I guess we'll see, sir…"

I closed my eyes and fell into fitful sleep.

The next morning I went back up to Angela's apartment. Primus had prepared breakfast, and they invited me to join them.

They did not have to ask twice, I was famished. I wasn't expecting much from his cooking, but it didn't taste half bad.

When Primus and Angela turned their backs I took whatever was left on Primus' plate and slid it into a containment pack on my belt.

" **I'm going to leave for a bit. I'll be back later.** " I said.

"Why? Where are you going?" Asked Primus.

" **I need to find real food. I'd rather rummage through trash cans than eat your crap.** "

Who the hell does he think he is. I don't answer to him.

I Jumped out the window, and landed gently on the street.

A few pedestrians saw me, I just snarled at them and they ran.

"Sir, you are being childish"

" **Minerva, you are being annoying** "

I hopped back into the _Novula_.

"Power reserves at 14%" Minerva warned.

I stared at the onboard interface blankly, pondering my next move.

"Talon could be launching their attack on Egypt at any given moment, and here we are playing house" I said.

"Sir, the new _Cloud_ 's construction has been progressing at a better rate than expected, construction should complete within the next two days."

"Hopefully it will be fast enough" I said

"What do you plan on doing until then?" she asked.

I paused for a second.

A smile spread across my face.

"How does a heist sound to you?" I said.

Later that day. Everything was in place. The sun was at its peak, the atmosphere was tense and I was about to break the law.

"So, let go through your plan again" Minerva said.

"You want to break into the petras museum and infiltrate the most heavily guarded archives in order to investigate the most powerful and dangerous items they have in their possession"

" **Guilty as charged** " I said as I used the laser cutter on my gauntlet to cut into a ventilation shaft on the roof of the museum.

"And your reasoning for this is that you want to find out if those talon scouts were planning on breaking in here themselves to look for something that could possibly be used to cause global terrorism."

" **Seems like a good enough reason to me** "

I cut out a small rectangular panel and squeezed in, careful not to plummet down the shaft and break my neck.

"How does this help anyone?" she asked.

" **Any potentially dangerous tech is not safe here, the city's security is needed elsewhere, and if there is another attack, they won't stand a chance** "

I travelled down the length of the shaft and followed it till I reached a dead end.

I cut another hole out of the side of it and hopped down. I seemed to be in some sort of maintenance room. There were numerous temperature regulation machines lining the wall, and numerous pipes and ventilation shafts running through the ceiling. The door was locked and the lights were out.

" **Minerva enable thermal Imaging** "

My visor started picking up heat traces outside the door.

I used my claws to cut one of the pipes, causing it to spurt coolant all over the room. The noise attracted whoever was outside, they opened the door to investigate. They were two security guards who just happened to be walking by. The moment they stepped inside I knocked them both out. I grabbed their access cards and stepped into the corridor outside.

" **Minerva, where are we?** "

"We are a considerable distance underground, sir. I'd say we are close to the archives"

Sure enough, there it was, A large vault door with three armed security guards stationed by it.

I tried my best to subdue them without hurting them too much, they were just doing their jobs after all. Unfortunately I had a suspicion I may have broken some teeth.

The access cards were unable to open the door, unfortunately.

I hoped it wouldn't have had to come to this.

I planted all 16 c4 charges on the door and ran as far away as possible. Moving the unconscious security guards to safety while I was at it.

" **Detonate** " I said

"Let's hope the ceiling doesn't cave in" Said Minerva

A deafening explosion shook the ground.

It wouldn't be long before more security would be sent down, leaving me very little time to investigate.

The door was reduced to rubble, I quickly hopped through and surveyed the archive room.

It was enormous.

Massive arrays of servers lined the walls, display cases held strange devices and contraptions within. Overwatch's secrets lay before me waiting to be learned.

But I didn't have time.  
I plugged my suit into the server terminal and sent a virus in to sweep the servers for potentially useful data.

"I'm in" Said Minerva

" **We have to make this quick, find the files that have the most security around them and download them** "

"Scanning archives… oh my goodness"

" **What is it?** "

"Sir, I think I know what Talon may have been after"

" **WELL? DOWNLOAD IT!** "

"It's not just information, there are seven devices in display cases here that accompany this data. Articles 19 through 26. Find and take them"

While Minerva downloaded the data, I searched for the physical counterparts.

When I found the display cases, all seven devices were present. They resembled strange jumbled messes of wires and computer chips. Each one was about the same size as a football. Luckily I brought a heavy duty containment pack (sturdy garbage bag with straps) and was able to fit all of them in.

"Sir, detecting security guards converging on our location"

" **Kill the lights** "

"Shutting down main power supply"

I escaped through the darkness back the way I came, hauling the devices on my back.

I clambered out of the vent through which I entered and looked down from the roof.

Police and special forces were just arriving on the scene. That was my cue.

I jumped down from the roof and into the _Novula_ , which was waiting for me.

We pulled up outside Angela's apartment. I hauled my bag full of tech up the side of the building and threw it in through the window, shattering it. I jumped through and landed in the living room.

Nobody was home, so I decided to use this privacy to analyse the strange peices of technology I had brought with me.

" **Minerva run diagnostics, find out exactly what all this stuff is for** "

"I'll do my best sir" She said

I laid out each little machine in a circle around the room, trying to figure out how they worked.

I was stumped, nothing seemed to activate or trigger anything within them.

"Sir… I found something quite interesting here in these files"

I looked at my suits pda screen to see what she was talking about.

My eyes widened as I read through the documents.

This had to be what Talon was after.

It all made so much sense now.

At that moment, Primus and Angela stumbled in through the front door.

They both looked quite frazzled, as if they had just finished a marathon.

I could barely see Angela's face through the golden locks that hung down over her eyes.

She took one look at the broken window and turned to me, furious.

"You…how…many times…are you…GOING TO BREAK MY WINDOW DUMMKOPF?"

She yelled.

"You fucked up dude…" Said Primus, insightful as ever.

" **Uuh** " I tried to think of something to say that would calm everyone down, but was failing miserably.

Then I noticed something, Angela had a massive bruise over one of her eyes.

" **What the fuck happened to your face?** " I asked.

Primus put on an apologetic look and stared at the floor.

"I may have accidentally punched her when the lights suddenly turned off at the museum. Again…really sorry about that, Angela." Said Primus.

HE HIT HER?

"It's all right, Jayce. It was an accident." She said.

SHE FORGAVE HIM?

How brainwashed is she?

I was having none of it.

" **WHY CAN'T YOU CONTROL YOURSELF. YOU AND YOUR RECKLESS CRAP WILL GET EVERYONE AROUND YOU KILLED!** "

"Hey! He did what he thought was right! Besides, you can't blame him for acting the way he did. If you were able to find him, what makes you think Talon or any other enemy wouldn't?" Said Angela, trying to defend him.

I know how strong Primus can be. My fractured rib from the other night was a testament to that. If he really did punch her in the face, she probably has a concussion, and may say a few delusional things without realising. Defending a man who punches you in the face is pretty damn delusional.

" **Not now Angela you need medical attention.** " I went up to her and tried to guide her into the other room.

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much" She said, crossing her arms.

Childish behaviour coming from a seasoned overwatch field veteran, who would have thought.

" **We don't have time** " I said as I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the bedroom.

"I'll help too" Said Primus, his voice trembling. As if he really cared about Angela.

" **No! You've done enough!** " I snapped at him before slamming the bedroom door in his face and locking it

"Let go of me im fine!" Said Angela, squirming out of my grasp.

" **Minerva can you run diagnostics for skull fractures?** "

"I can run one on you, seeing as your helmet has sensors built in. But not on her, unless you have a bio scanner nearby" Said Minerva.

I did have a bio scanner, on the old _Cloud_. Crap.

There was only one thing for it.

"What are you doing Gat?" Asked Angela.

I took out two pilsl from my belt, a mood alteration drug and an amnesia inducing drug. This would be a little risky but there wasn't much else for it.

" **Here, these are headache pills, they will make you feel better** "

"Are you sure?" she asked.

I could see in her eyes how lightheaded she was.

" **Trust me** "

She swallowed both pills and looked at me for a second.

Poor Angela, she trusts far too easily.

She started grinning stupidly, that was the mood alterer in effect, similar to the one that I used on Primus before, but it has the opposite effect. It induces calm instead of fear.

"I feel pretty" she said, slurring her words slightly.

I smiled, she was adorable like this. Well, apart from the large wound on her face.

Focus.

I took off my helmet.

"Woah, you look pretty too!" She said as she looked at my face for the first time.

"Hold still" I said as I gently placed the helmet over her head.

" **What, why is it all so dark?** " She said as I put it in place.

"Run the diagnosis, Minerva" I said.

" **Whoa, my voice sounds strange** " She said

"Scan complete sir, no structural damage, fortunately. Just bruising"

"Thank goodness" I said.

I pulled the helmet off her and inspected the bruise closely.

I brushed her hair away from her cheek to get a closer look.

Angela kept her eyes locked on mine, she had a fascinated look on her face.

"Gat you have beautiful eyes… but…" She trailed off.

"But what?" I asked flattered by the compliment. I took out a cold compress from the dresser, she had a lot of medical supplies lying around.

"Beautiful… but sad" She said as I pressed the cold compress against her cheek.

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"I can see the same look in Jayce's eyes. He may seem happy and goofy all the time, but behind it all, there is a sadness stemming from his past." She said.

This upset me. What on earth would he know about sadness?

"You're right about one thing, I'm sure as hell not happy. But Jayce doesn't seem all that sad to me." I said

Angela had a look of sorrow on her face.

"You have no idea what he had to go through as a child, all the abuse, the trauma." A tear started to well up in her bruised eye.

"How much do you know about his past?" I asked.

"There are things I wish I didn't know, things that sicken me whenever I think about them. And yet, it seems I don't know the worst of it, he says there are things about his past that he still isn't ready to share with me after all these months."

She said.

She put one hand on my cheek. "Why can't you just give him a break? The two of you just want to make the world a better place, why let blind anger stand in the way?"

I held her hand in mine. I smiled at her.

"You are so fucking Naive"

"What?!" she exclaimed.

Just then her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell back onto the bed.

I put my helmet back on.

Angela slowly got back up with a hand on her head.

"What.. where.. Huh?"

The amnesia had kicked in.

" **I had your head checked out, you'll be fine** " I said

"Umm.. thanks?" She said, clearly with no recollection of the past few minutes.

We walked back into the living room, where Primus was taking a look at the stolen devices.

" **Don't touch any of that** " I said to him

"What is it all for? Why did you rob the museum?" He asked.

Looks like everyone has wised up to my activites.

" **I don't answer to you** " I said.

"Maybe not, but my house is where you have decided to keep these stolen goods. I deserve to know what they are for" She looked at me dead serious. She may be weak, but she seems to toughen up from time to time.

" **Fine. I had a suspicion that Talon was aiming for the Museum. Perhaps there was something there worth stealing. To be sure I decided to steal anything interesting and figure out what they could have possibly been looking for.** " I explained, realising how it sounded a lot smarter in my head.

Jayce had a puzzled expression.

"So you robbed the museum because you suspected that talon would rob the museum? Dude…that just sounds dumb…" He said.

Wow. This was coming from the king of idiocy himself.

" **Talon would have used that tech for malicious purposes. At least with me, nobody can misuse it.** " I tried to explain.

Mercy stepped in and backed me up.

"You can't argue with that. The security at the museum is not at its best, considering the city needs all security personnel it can get its hands on right now. It's probably best if someone who can protect it keeps this dangerous tech." She gave me a warm smile.

" **Regardless, I found some stuff here that point towards a very clear direction** " I said.

I plugged a memory stick into a nearby laptop. Time to show them what the museum has held secret all these years.

" **I found this entire manifest of files regarding god AI programs. Specifically about their weaknesses and possible ways to harness their power.** "

I pulled a world map onto the screen, several locations across the world were marked on it, with Egypt highlighted in red.

I glanced at Primus' face, and he definitely knows more about egypt than he is letting on.

" **Ever since the Omnic crisis ended, Overwatch's scientists have secretly tracked and studied various god AI programs. The Anubis AI in Egypt was the one that was researched the most, since it was held captive and put into a dormant state.** "

Primus looked uneasy.

" **Didn't you say you were going to Egypt soon?** " I asked, menacingly.

Sweat formed on his forehead.

"yes…? What does that have to do with anything?" He asked

Soon enough I will figure you out Primus… soon enough.

" **Nothing…** " I replied.

Angela cut through the tension.

"What about all these other gadgets?" She said, gesturing to all the little devices strewn around the room.

" **I brought everything I could carry. I'm not certain what exactly all this does, but Minerva has been analyzing it thoroughly.** " I said.

"You make it sound like I can make sense of it. It will take me a while before I can decode whatever the heck these things are supposed to be. Most of them seem to have similar functionality however, capable of projecting holograms when linked up together. But everything I have tried has failed to actually activate whatever hologram is being stored in them." Said Minerva.

" **My guess is that the information on these devices is extremely dangerous, so much so that someone took the time to split it across several different devices and encrypt them all separately.** " It made sense to me, this stuff was not to be messed with.

"So you're saying this is what Talon was looking for?" Asked Primus.

" **Most probably. So overall, what I have discerned from this entire endeavor is that Talon is probably planning to take advantage of god AI programming. Most likely the Anubis AI in Egypt, a country that seems to keep popping up everywhere i look.** " I said the last part with a quick glance at Primus. I felt he was getting the hint.

"So… what do we do now?" He asked.

" **Simple, we get to the Anubis AI before Talon, and stop them from doing whatever they are planning.** "

"Wait up what the heck is a god AI?" He asked.

For fucks sake, why is he so incompetent.

" **Google it. Does your ignorance know no bounds?** "

He was beginning to get pissed.

"Okay…let me ask again. What THE FUCK is a god AI?" He said

Minerva must have pitied his idiocy, so she answered him.

"Searching the Internet for "what THE FUCK is a god AI?". A god AI is an artificial intelligence program capable of manipulating extremely large amounts of data and technology. First created to aid in the mass production of Omnics before the Omnic crisis. They turned rogue and sent armies of Omnics to overthrow their human creators." She said, google-esque.

"Overwatch put a stop to it." Said Angela, with a hint of pride.

" **Apparently not. They can barely understand what god AIs are at this point, looking at this research.** "

The documents showed that the God Ai would slowly adapt and counter any measures used to try and contain them. Anubis had very nearly escaped containment on numerous occasions, including once recently. When helix security had to be called in to defend against a miniature uprising.

"Hey! at least they tried" Said Primus.

That was it, I was sick of his aimless optimism and defence of Overwatch.

" **THEY FAILED!** " I spat at him.

" **THEY WERE HOPELESS, CORRUPT, FOR FUCKS SAKE** " I screamed.

The entire room went silent after my outburst.

"okay okay calm down, cat boy" Said a slightly uneasy Primus.

I have to try and remain calm. Overwatch had a lot of influence on my actions when I was younger, their failure was difficult for me to handle. There was no need for me to get this upset.

"Overwatch is a bit of a touchy subject" Said Minerva

"Isn't it for everyone these days." Sighed Angela.

I looked at Angela.

" **I'm sorry, I lost my temper. Bad memories.** " I apologized.

I quickly left the room and walked out onto the balcony to try and regain my composure.

The afternoon sun was low. Why was I so moody all of a sudden?

I leaned against the railing, wondering what my life had become.

Primus came up behind me.

"What's wrong, Gat?" He asked.

No. I refuse to divulge my insecurities with this asshat.

I stared blankly at him.

"Look, I know you don't like me. But I can tell that you have some bad history with Overwatch and it is disturbing you. How about you tell what's up?

It'll help, more than you know." He said.

He sounded suspiciously similar to Minerva.

I continued to stare at him, silent.

"Sigh- Look, I know you don't really trust me and I don't blame you. But you must know I mean good intentions. All I want to do is the right thing." He said.

I didn't care what he wanted. And just so that he would get the damn hint, I stopped leaning against the window, faced him, and folded my arms for effect.

"Listen, if you have some sort of grudge against me, I hope we can bury the hatchet."

He put one of his hands forward, offering a shake.

Let's be friends.

I walked back inside.

" **Minerva we have to talk** " I said as I jumped out the broken window.

"About what sir?" She asked

I got back into the _Novula_ which was now completely drained of its power. The armoured vehicle was no longer able to cloak, so the bus sized tank was just sitting in plain view on the side of the street.

I got into the pitch black cockpit.

" **When will construction complete?** " I asked

"About that sir, I can have it up and running by tomorrow" She told me

I pulled off the helmet.

"That's great news" I said. "We can finally get going"

"There is a catch sir" Said Minerva. "I can have it ready by tomorrow… If we don't stock up on food and beverage supplies."

This didn't seem like an issue to me.

"I don't care just get it done" I said.

"Sir that also means no drinks" Said Minerva.

"What the hell are you implying?" I asked.

"I've noticed your behaviour over the week has been getting very erratic, mood swings, sudden outbursts. I think your body is going through withdrawal symptoms." She said.

"I do not have a fucking drinking problem. Bring that goddamn flying fuck down here as soon as possible. Drinking problem my ass." I said.

Minerva clearly was disappointed by my behaviour, but im the boss. So she had to shut up.

I passed a few hours studying the stolen documents on my suit's hologram projector. Trying to make sense of it all. What Talon was planning, how Primus fit in. It honestly baffled me how convoluted this whole thing ended up being. I put one hand over my lower chest. I could feel the slight irregularity where the bone had healed. Primus is either a manipulative mastermind with malicious intent, or a super powered idiot that is a liability to everyone around him. Either way I will figure out how to deal with him.

My stomach began to rumble.

"Sir I highly suggest you have dinner. You do way too much physical activity to subsist on one meal a day"

I wasn't going to argue with her there.

I started climbing up the side of the Angela's apartment again. The window was fixed.

"Do you break the window on purpose every time because you know that Jayce has to fix it?"

I smirked under my helmet and bashed through the window again.

Primus and Angela were having dinner as I made my entrance.

They stared at me briefly before Primus spoke up.

"Dude…Seriously? The window!"

" **Sorry, I thought it was open** " I said, smiling beneath my faceplate.

"Why do you always have to jump through it? We get it. You're good at gymnastics." He said.

"That's the fourth time this week." Said Angela through gritted teeth.

"Why DO you jump through the window every time, sir?" Aske Minerva with a hint of that AI sass she is famous for.

" **Saves time** " I said coolly.

Everyone stared at me disappointed. Fuck their window.

Angela sighed. Poor woman, for a moment I felt she really didn't deserve this. Then I realised she worked for overwatch, and those thoughts vanished.

"Will you join us for dinner tonight? Jayce made an amazing vegetable soup." She said.

It smelled good. He might be an idiot but he can cook.

" **Sure** " I said as I pulled up a chair.

I ate with my visor drawn up just enough to allow food to get in. I doubt they would be able to identify me through my jaw.

Primus struck up conversation.

"So. You're going to Egypt too, right?" He asked me.

" **Yes, Tomorrow probably.** " I replied

"How do you plan to get there?" He asked.

If only he knew. He was going to find out soon enough. I had decided to take him with me. Minerva was already working on making it possible for him to come with me. I need to keep an eye on him so nobody else is hurt.

" **You'll see** " I answered. Leaving him looking confused.

Primus looked at Angela with a little disappointment in his eyes.

"So, Angela, I'm going to be leaving early tomorrow morning…" He said to her.

"I hope your trip is eventful. Be sure to wake me up so I can see you off." She seemed quite sad.

" **Wait, aren't you going with him?** " I asked her. The two seemed inseparable, I had assumed…

"Nope, she is not. It's too dangerous." said Primus almost reflexively.

Angela looks at Primus confused.

"It's because I am needed more over here in Zürich, the city needs every able doctor available." She said.

Clearly they had different reasons, Primus had an insecurity. Angela had a professional responsibility.

Time to get on her good side.

" **I respect that Angela. But i hope you reconsider your choice, i could use expertise like yours in Egypt.** " I said. In all fairness, she might be a valuable ally, considering her field experience, and the fact she saved my ass once before.

Primus was having none of it.

"Listen, Angela made her point. She isn't coming. So let's not,okay? We might regret it in future and I don't want her getting hurt. Besides, It's best we don't burden her as much as we all ready so…" He drifted off, clearly not capable of finishing a sentence. Christ's sake.

"Jayce, by now you should know I can take care of myself." She said to him sternly.

Primus tried to escape from the hole he dug himself into

"I know but-" he stammered.

Angela got upset.

"listen. I have a duty here in Zürich. I can't just leave it" she sighed.

We all went silent for a while

"Well, this is awkward… So…nice weather today, huh?" Minerva said.

After dinner, I climbed out the window and onto the roof. Minerva calibrated the new _Cloud_ 's gps. It was a lot larger, but had a higher top speed. It should be able to get here in time from it's offshore construction rig in the atlantic.

I stayed on the roof and gazed at the sky. Finally, I would have access to what made me Il Gatto, my arsenal. Although Mondatta would disagree. He always said "excellence of self" is what true strength was. I'll take a 3 billion dollar flying fortress over excellence of self any day.

A few hours passed. Soon enough, Minerva told me the _Cloud II_ was inbound.

Finally.

I was barely able to contain myself, the look on their dumb faces will be priceless.

So far they thought i was a lunatic in a cat costume. Now I'm a lunatic with a flying operations center.

I slowly climbed down to the window (which was already fixed, nice job Primus) and decided to cut through it with a laser, to make less noise. This had to be a surprise. It had to be PERFECT.

I slowly cut through and quietly walked across to Angela's room.

I burst through the door as loudly as I could and turn on the light.

EVERYONE WAKE THE FUCK UP.

Primus was already awake and standing, presumably about to leave.

Angela seemed to have been awoken by me.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" "SCHEISSE!" They screamed.

Oh, these poor poor commoners.

" **I hope you packed Jayce, its time to go.** " I said, cheerily.

"I was just about to go to the airport before you came in and woke up the entire city." He said, annoyed.

" **Oh you won't have to worry about that. I cancelled your flight.** " I said, gleefuly.

"What?" He asked.

"Technically I cancelled it…" Added Minerva.

Holy shit this is rich. _I'm_ rich.

"WHAT?!" He yelled.

"What is going on?" Asked Angela, still confused from waking up.

" **Follow me I have something pretty interesting to show you** " I said, beaming under my helmet.

"I swear I'm going to strangle you…" muttered Primus.

"You and me both…" Said Angela

I guided them up to the roof, nearly skipping as I went there.

Once we got there I looked to the sky. It should be close now.

The dark night sky was full of clouds, but not the one I was looking for.

I was getting anxious

" **Okay wait for it…** " I said.

"what the hell are we doing up here" said Jayce impatiently.

" **Wait for it…** " I repeated.

Nothing happened.

"Did you see something? Talon? Aliens?" Angela was lost.

" **WAIT FOR IT….** " I nearly yelled, I was losing my cool.

Not a damn thing happened.

" **MINERVA! WHERE THE HELL IS IT?!** " I screamed, breaking the silence.

"Sorry sir, the cloud cover was messing with the GPS, I accidentally got the wrong building." She said.

3 billion dollars and the GPS still fucks up. Wow.

I fell to my knees in frustration and pounded the ground with my fist, cracking the concrete.

" **YOU HAD ONE JOB!** " I screamed at her.

"actually I have several jobs" she said.

" **NOT NOW!** " Sass was the last thing I needed then.

"Okay, sir I'm sorry… god." she said.

Primus finally decided to step forward and say something.

"Can someone explain what the hell is going on before I punch him in the f-"

Luckily the _Cloud II_ 's arrival shut him up. Brand new and its already making me proud.

The gigantic aircraft's engines gushed air over the rooftop with such strength, it knocked both Angela and Jayce Onto their asses.

The cloaking disengaged and the massive beast displayed itself in it's full glory.

Nearly twice the size of its predecessor, the massive thing hummed gently with all of it's Ion engines.

I stood up to face my companions and spread my arms wide.

I proudly said

" **The cavalry's here!** "


	8. Union Arc: Cairo

Chapter 8: Cairo

" **I present to you, the Cloud II** " I said.

I turned and gestured to the flying fortress behind me.

The massive aircraft hovered with a deep low rumble, its ion engines emitting a clean blue glow.

The Cloud 2.0 had a larger frame than its predecessor, supported by an aluminum-titanium alloy chassis. This time strong enough to (hopefully) withstand another hit like the one that took down the previous iteration. The new Cloud was bigger, faster and tougher. It's sleek exterior hiding state of the art technology beneath its surface. This time the thing was packed with weaponry and power capable of levelling skyscrapers, overkill for what I'm usually up against, but I'm up against something else now. Can't be too careful.

I knew I was on the verge of discovering something big in Egypt. Too much was at stake here. I would not let what happened in Zurich happen again. Too many lives lost, all while I was barely trying to save my own skin.

This time I was going to be ready.

I turned back from the beautiful thing and looked back at my two companions. They stared, wide eyed, at the craft. Understandable, but I don't have time to waste. Talon was not going to wait.

" **Well? I didn't fly it all the way out here for you to just stare at it. Get your asses inside!** " I ordered.

The main cargo bay ramp lowered and extended to the roof. Angela and Primus walked up the ramp, eyes wide and mouth agape.

We ascended the ramp and walked into the main vehicle bay. Large enough to fit a small private jet inside, the bay is filled with various useful tech. The walls were lined with various models of drones, ranging from reconnaissance to medical and combat. The centre of the hangar was dominated by a large vehicle covered entirely in black tarp, the only visible elements being exposed wires and circuitry protruding from the bottom of the tarp.

Project _Pantera_. My proposed solution to large robotic city destroyers. It isn't ready yet, far from it. A heavy hitting tank with legs, EMPs, torpedoes, gatling lasers. Unfortunately, it still doesn't function flawlessly, Minerva's reports say that even if it was completed. Safety would probably be less than optimal.

"What is all this?" asked Primus, looking at the drones.

" **My drone network. The thing in the middle is classified however** " I said, referring to the _Pantera_ _ **.**_

Angela was taking a closer look at the drones, fascinated.

"These things are cutting edge, how could you possibly afford it all?" She asked in disbelief.

" **Classified** " I said with a smile.

Carraro industries had seen a very profitable five years. Billions of dollars worth of tech was just waiting to be put into action.

"You can't be serious" she said "Some of these don't even look like they are from this planet".

She had a bit of a point actually. A good deal of my equipment is made entirely from original designs. Being a billionaire with more time on my hand than I know what to do with led way to a lot of experiments in mechanical engineering. Enough spare time and trial and error let me create machines the likes of which modern technology is years behind.

" **Anyway, let's move on** " I said.

I walked to the rear of the vehicle bay and entered the passcode on the entrance hatch. It opened to reveal the main deck of the _Cloud_. The interior of the main deck was nearly the same as the previous iteration. Except this time, it appeared very much still in the process of being completed. There were droids and construction robots were still applying metal sheets to exposed panels and protective coatings over numerous surfaces. This must have been how Minerva managed to finish construction so fast, she _didn't_. The deck still had the same control panel array in the center with computers and screens displaying ship data. The curved glass ceiling still showed the overcast Zurich sky in it's early morning hours. Seeing the somewhat familiar sight before me filled me with a feeling I didn't expect to feel.

I felt home.

" **Welcome to the main deck. This is where I will probably spend most of my time, making strategies and plans to take down talon...** " I paused to smirk under my mask " **...and save the world** " admittedly a little cocky of me, but being back in the _Cloud_ after the rather tedious last few days made me feel invincible.

"What's with all the robots doing all this maintenance?" asked Primus, noticing the working machines.

"Construction of the Cloud II has been heavily rushed to meet deadlines. Some minor systems are not online yet, and certain… aesthetic amenities are still underway" answered Minerva.

She wasn't wrong, exposed metal and control panels littered the walls. The smell of fresh paint nearly strong enough to give me a stroke.

" **I thought you said you had finished it** " I said.

I probably didn't sound very appreciative just then.

"I built you a _second_ flying base in just under five days, show some gratitude you ungrateful-"  
" **Fine! Fine…** " I interrupted, before giving a sigh.

" **Thanks for the quick work** " I said.

"Thank you, sir" said

Minerva with the most smug tone you could have imagined.

I wasn't doing her massive ego any favors.

Before I was embarrassed any further in front of the good doctor and her companion, I decided to get back on track.

" **Regardless, there is plenty more to see. Come with me Angela, let me show you your quarters** "

And by "her" quarters I was referring to the guest cabin. Even the previous _Cloud_ had one, but I had every intention of taking the doctor with me, so I decided to attempt to persuade her with some… generosity.

"My quarters?" asked Angela.

I nodded and led the way.

I led them to the front of the aircraft, or 'bow'. The cockpit was at the front (Obviously), with cabins flanking it a short way down the corridor that led up to it. We reached Angela's cabin and stepped inside.

I had the guest cabin put together to look a little more impressive than usual, with a few extra amenities added in last minute by me. The cabin was of a generous size, with large panoramic windows that gave a scenic view of the sky above. A large queen size bunk lay on one side of the room, with neatly folded white sheets and a large foot locker attached to it. The cabin came with its own private washroom (shower included), personal computer and plenty of room (in case someone wants to teach a yoga class in here). I modeled and furnished the room after a hotel suite I stayed in when I visited Numbani for a business meeting. Service was so impressive I bought the company.

I snapped out of my flashback and noticed that my two companions were staring at the room with eyes wide.

I cleared my throat and said " **I leave a guest cabin like this on my bases just in case I'm doing a search and rescue, and the person I save needs a place to stay for a short while. But, should you decide to come with me, the cabin is yours.** "

Angela took another look around the cabin, speechless.

"I don't know what to say..." she said.

Primus crossed his arms and frowned at me.

"Well" he said to Angela "You did say you're not coming, so I guess nothing?"

Angela shoots Primus a disappointed look.

Primus looked back at me and a look of realization crept onto his face.

"Hang on, since you canceled my ticket, I'm assuming you want me to ride with you, right? So do I get a cool cabin too?" He asked eagerly.

In fact I did.

" **Actually I had a separated room for you** " I said, trying to hide the snarky tone in my voice.

Primus suddenly looked a little less enthusiastic.

I brought everyone down to the rear of the ship.

We stepped through a door that said _Brigantino_ above it.

The lower hold was a large corridor with twelve cells lining the walls. Each cell fitted not with bars, but with powerful electric force fields, designed to shock any of the inhabitants if they get too frisky.

I gestured towards Primus' cell.

"YOU WERE GOING TO PUT ME IN A CELL?" Primus exclaimed.

" **It's not like the rest of the cells.** " I said

" **Look, there's a mattress and a locker, just for you!** "

I had Minerva put those in, much to her distaste.

I chuckled and brought everyone back up to the main deck. On our way there, we went past a few rooms which I purposefully didn't show my guests.

But of course, Primus had to open his mouth.

"Wait, we passed two that you didn't show us" he said.

" **Trust me, I haven't shown you a LOT. Those two were the research lab and the medbay. The research lab is strictly off limits.** " I replied.

"Why can't we visit the medbay?" He asked.

" **You'll end up in there soon enough if you don't stop asking questions** "

"Enough of this pointless arguing you two!" Angela said, stepping between us.

" **I apologize, but there are certain things on this craft that I need to keep confidential until they are completely functional.** "

I glanced at Primus.

" **I can't risk someone poking their noses where they don't belong and damaging sensitive equipment.** "

"I still don't understand the need of so much secrecy." She says, frustrated.

Secrecy? I've just shown them more about my methods than anyone in the past. What more do they want?

" **Angela this craft and everything on it is worth over five billion dollars. Nothing you see right now is mass produced, it is all specially built for my purpose. I can't just replace something if it breaks, I have to manufacture it from scratch, which takes time and money.** "

A brief pause followed, until Primus chimed in.

"Dude… quit flexing" He said.

Little _Merda_.

 _Dovrei dargli un pugno in faccia-_

My thoughts were interrupted by Angela.

"Gat… now is not the time for all this, can we have breakfast? I'm hungry."

For the first time that morning I noticed that she was still wearing her night dress, and looked like she had just rolled out of bed.

Oh wait.

"Yeah, good point" said Primus "I'm hungry too. How about I cook us something?"

"That sounds great!" Said a relieved Angela.

They looked to me waiting for a reply.

" **Fine..** " I said. Normally I would have taken any opportunity not to eat his cooking ever again, but there wasn't much food on board, and it was probably the smarter option.

We went back into the small apartment for a meal. I hurried down behind the other two. Who knows how long I can keep a massive unregistered aircraft concealed a few hundred feet above the ground in a city on alert?

" **Minerva, I cannot wait till we can stop playing house here and finally get a move on.** "

"Seems fairly obvious sir." She says. "Enjoy the pancakes while you can, you won't find much of that on board"

Angela did not at all like the most recent hole I had put in her window.

"Why Gat? It's not funny at all." She says, defeated.

"Yeah man, dick move. We're not as rich as you" Said Primus.

I replied with a bit of attitude.

" **What? How did you now I'm rich? I mean.. What makes you think so?** "

I grinned under the helmet.

"How else would you have been able to get this suit, equipment and the giant fucking fortress in the sky?" He said, clearly proud of his discovery.

I put my hand over my heart, feigning shock.

"He gotcha there sir…" Said Minerva, amused.

" **I don't know, maybe I have a generous sponsor?** " I suggested.

"Who the hell would want to sponsor some random Italian dude who wants to be a superhero?" He retorted.

That was a little harsh. But I left it there.

"Haha. He got you again, sir." Said Minerva, not acknowledging my loss of interest in the joke.

After a quick breakfast, I stood outside the apartment door, waiting for Primus.

" **They're taking their time aren't they?** " I said, Impatient.

"They?" Said Minerva with a knowing tone.

" **Yeah, you know what I mean** " I said.

"You really want her coming along, don't you, sir"

" **Can't hurt to have a doctor around, besides, talking to nobody but you and Primus will drive me insane.** "

"Don't think I haven't noticed, sir. You've said more apologies to Angela than I think I've ever heard you say to anyone."

" **Apart from you, probably** "

"I never took you for the kind that uses kindness to convince people to do things."  
" **Didn't want to waste any more drugs** "

"Aww, looks like Il Gatto is going soft"

" **Shut up, they're here** " I said, slightly ticked off.

"You adore me, sir" She said with a laugh.

Admittedly, that got a smile out of me.

Which disappeared as soon as Primus showed up.

The two of us began to make our way to the _Cloud_ but surprise surprise…

"Wait!" Angela ran up behind us.

"I'm coming with you" She told Primus.

Primus and Angela started talking, I was a little too far to hear their voices. But regardless.

 _Bene_. Exactly what I was hoping to hear. I left the two behind to talk it out. I wouldn't have to hear the whole thing.

I already know exactly how that conversation will go.

"Looks to me like you've got your doctor, softy." Said Minerva.

" **Blame the billionaire playboy charisma** "

Within the hour, everyone was assembled at the helm (including Angela, obviously).

" **Minerva, now it's finally time.** " I was trying to sound professional, but there was part of me that could barely contain the excitement. I fly once more.

"Alright sir! Egypt here we come!" She said.

The engines rumbled, and like a bird in the wind, we swept across the Zurich sky.

Primus stumbles and nearly falls on his ass, not accustomed to the speed.

" **It's brand new and it's already making me proud** " I laughed.

After our flight was well underway, I put myself to use, adjusting various systems on the bridge.

All the while my mind trying to cope with my situation.

I beat up thugs on the street. I'm good at that. I've been good at that since I started.

But this? International terrorist organizations and Science fiction horrors. To say I doubted myself would be an understatement. Beneath it all, I am what I am, a single man. My time in Switzerland made that very clear. I'm not invincible and this time around, I have a major weakness. I don't entirely know what I'm going to do.

"Hey, umm, Gat? Do you have a smeltery or a general area where you can build weapons and armour?" Asked Primus, who was right behind me the whole time I was having my existential crisis.

" **It's not the 18th century, nobody has smelteries. But there is an armor room if that's what you're talking about… Why?** " I asked, suspicious.

"I want to build some weapons for myself. In case something happens, I need to be able to defend myself." He answers with an unreadable smile.

Is that arrogance? Snark? Or is he genuinely smiling? _Cazzo_ I need to get him off my mind.

" **Fine, Minerva will tell you where it is. There are also some materials you might need… I wonder what incredible inventions are waiting in your oh so clever little head!** " I said, spitefully.

"Gee, thanks Gat! You're awesome!" He says.

Fucking imbecile.

"Okay Jayce, I guess I'll lead you to the workshop now." Said Minerva.

"Thanks, Minerva!" Said the excited man child.

Lets hope he doesn't break anything that isn't his own bones.

I went to my cabin and meditated.

Or tried to anyway. I got bored and started doing push ups.

Until the sun went down.

We soared over the Mediterranean in the quiet night. The serene atmosphere made me long for my time at the Shambali Monastery. I would climb to the roof of my home there every night and sit there with a flask full of brandy which I had smuggled in by some delivery boys. The absolute silence as the monastery sat atop the mountain, frozen and serene in the harsh ranges of Nepal. Perhaps the only time in my life I truly felt like I was content.

I was pulled out of my contemplation by Angela this time.

"Good evening, I haven't seen much of you today. Your _Cloud_ is certainly a sight to behold."

She smiled.

We were in the dining area, a room set on the underside of the craft. A large window pretty much made up the entire wall, showing the glistening ocean below and the endless expanse of the horizon beyond. I was seated at the dining table, your average IKEA size furniture for the tiny swedish home. I sat at one end in a chair, the only bottle of wine on the entire ship was on the table in front of me, as well as a plate of spaghetti I was trying not to finish too quickly, as I was starving from the exercise.

I beckoned to Angela to take a seat, there was a plate of spaghetti for her as well, across from me.

" **Take a seat** _ **Amica**_ **. You generously offered me your hospitality in your home. You are welcome to be just as comfortable in mine"** I smiled and poured myself a glass.

"Thank you, Gat" She said as she sat down to eat.

"Is there enough food here for the entire trip? I don't want to eat too much if there isn't." She said.

" **Don't worry, there is enough** " I said.

There really wasn't, this dinner would be the only lavish one we would have for the foreseeable future. Due to my request to Minerva to speed it up.

"You sure about that, sir?" Said Minerva.

Annoyed, I changed the subject.

" **So.. you and this Primus fellow** " I asked. " **What is the nature of your relationship, if you don't mind me asking** "  
"Well, um, we're just friends. But if I'm honest-"

Primus bursts in cutting off Angela.

He excitedly looks around the room, but a curious look came on his face when he realized something.

" **Oh, what a shame, there aren't enough seats. Too bad** " I smiled.

I wanted this conversation to be private. If that means Primus eats after us, so be it.

But, ever the blind optimist, Primus perked back up.

"That's alright! You two can have the seats. I'll sit on the floor. So, Gat? Is there any food for me to eat?" He said.

 _Cristo_ , he doesn't give up. Well, I know how I can reward his persistence.

Instead of eating later, he can just starve.

The thought of it actually got me giggling. The alcohol deciding to take effect at this moment.

My giggling erupted into roaring laughter.

The two stared at me as I tried to contain myself.

" **No** " I managed to say.

"You said there was." Said Angela, looking at me, a little shocked.

" **You assumed I was including Primus? He can manage without it, we didn't have time to stock up on meals, so we have to be strict with the food** " I replied.

Primus stared at me.

"So there are food and chairs, conveniently for only two people?" Primus said, emotionless.

" **How unfortunate.** " My voice was filled with spite.

He took a deep breath.

"I'm just going to sit over there if you need me…" He finally said, before sitting in a corner of the room.

This was my territory, he understood that. When the alpha says no food. No food _amico_. He can tell all his fairy stories and act as stupid as he likes. On my _Cloud_ , he flies, but his bullshit won't.

My faceplate raised a little to allow me a sip from my glass.

Angela took notice.

"A-are you drinking?" She asked, she sounded uncomfortable.

Is she worried for my health? My judgement? Ah, whatever, _allora_ its my choice.

" _ **Ovviamente!**_ **This is** _ **Amarone**_ **wine from the year 2018! This stuff costs a fortune. I know someone who owns a select vineyard in the region.** " I said, smirking.

I gave Angela a wink as I said so, not sure how it would translate on the faceplate.

She seemed unimpressed. What ever happened to taste?  
We ate in silence for a while. I nearly finished the bottle, and Primus was texting in his corner.

Eventually, he looked up.

"So… Gat. What's your real name?" He asked.

Sure, of course I'm going to answer that.

" **I don't know, what's YOUR real name?** " I spat back. My mind clouded with a substantial amount of wine.

"But I already told you my name, it's Jayce" He said, a little confused.

" **That is the stupidest name I have ever heard** " I followed up my retort with a swig from the bottle. Glasses are boring.

"Actually it does mean something." Said Angela, with a disapproving look.

"It means 'healing' or 'healer' in Greek mythology" she said, smug.

"She's got you there, sir" Said Minerva "Plus Jayce isn't really a bad name."

Why are they still teaming up on me. Fuck, I need a break.

I got up.

" **I've got to go. Minerva, don't let them touch my spaghetti**." I said. Not sure what I meant by that, but I said it with a serious voice, that'll show them, _Cazzi_.

I stormed off to my personal quarters.

"Sir, what was that back there?" Minerva asked

I pulled my helmet off and threw it on my bed.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, pissed.

"Your attitude towards Primus is a little bit extreme. Don't you think?" She said.

"He broke my fucking rib" I reminded her "and he is completely insane."

"So? Don't you want to be better than him? He still fed and sheltered you"

"Correction, it was Angela who sheltered me."

"Please sir, try to keep things civil, there is no need for conflict like this"

" _Cazzo_ "

I pinched the bridge of my nose and shut my eyes.

"Minerva, the scans." I said

She didn't follow at first.

"What scans?"

"Primus' body scans" I replied "What did we learn?".

"A lot. Why?"

"I think we need to find out exactly what makes him the way he is."

I opened my eyes.

"And we need to find out how we can reverse it"

The remainder of my trip I spent in the research laboratory, picking apart Primus' DNA. There was an energy emitting from every strand, something subtle, but significant. I also put Minerva to work analysing the dark radioactive substance we had recovered from the first alien crash, dubbed "Minervium". The radiation emitting from said material seemed to mirror the behaviour of the energy from Primus' DNA. Equal, but opposite, like two ends of a magnet. I planned to test further but Minerva cut me short over the announcement system.

"We have now arrived at our destination. Please ensure that your seatbelts are fastened, and your food trays are locked in the upright position. Thank you for flying air Minerva. We hope you enjoy your stay in Cairo."

I looked out the window, and the glowing sands of the capital city of Egypt was almost too bright to look at directly. The pyramids loomed in the distance, surrounded by countless large modern buildings and infrastructure, nearly dwarfed by the imposing image of modernity. People bustled about. Poor, rich, young, old. Cairo was a diverse place, socially at least. Hover Cars and flying boats meandered through the skies.

The _Cloud_ 's cloaking system would struggle to function as efficiently in the bright morning sun here. I instructed Minerva to anchor the craft in a less dense part of town. Away from main roads and aerial traffic.

I suited up in stealth gear, not ideal for the heat, but it would help with my infiltration of the Anubis compound.

I packed light, carrying few weapons and only a handful of tools.

" **If all goes well this should be a quick in and out mission.** " I told Minerva.

"Ha. That's what she said, sir."

I slapped myself on my forehead and nearly ended up short circuiting the entire suit.

Primus walked up behind me.

"Alright, its time to make a move" He said, determined.

I turned around to reply but was caught off guard by what I saw.

Primus had a massive sword strapped to his back, and a pair of gauntlets on his arms.

" **Um… where did you get the gauntlets and the sword?** "

"Ooh… these?" He looked at me mockingly "I built them!" he said, showing off the shining gauntlets and long red and blue sword, which was covered in strange markings.

My eyes widened as I looked him over.

"I built this stuff so I can defend myself in case we run into trouble here." he said.

Well, damn. I didn't expect him to actually make something in such little time. He knows a lot more than he admits.

" **Yeah… about that… you're staying here.** "

He tilted his head, confused.

"What?" he asked.

If Talon is here, I'm going to find them. I can't risk Primus alerting them of my interference in any way, be it intentional or not.

" **I don't have time for your mystical God bullshit. You're staying here. And don't. Touch. Anything.** " I said. I had my eyes turn red for effect.

With that I headed down to the vehicle bay and made alterations to my outfit. I had my stealth suit on, but on top of that, I put on a light trench coat, so that I would be able to move through the city on street level without much scrutiny. The heat would be quite unbearable, however, so Minerva made a tough call and suggested that I take my helmet off. I wasn't completely exposing my identity however, I had a pair of aviators and even contact lenses on to make me harder to recognize.

"You sure about these contacts?" I asked Minerva.

"Don't worry sir, they're convincing, nearly impossible to detect, and plus, they can scramble facial detection systems if necessary." said Minerva. "Besides, you need some sort of interface to help you process anything you see, since you won't have your faceplate to help."

She had a point.

I hopped out of the _Cloud_ and onto the dusty outer roads of the city.

I had one main goal here, to prevent Talon from succeeding in their plans here.

But whether that means warning Helix so that they could prepare, or taking what Talon wants before they take it themselves… I still wasn't sure.

It would be a bit of a run before I reached the main city of Cairo.

I could use a little morning exercise.

Soon enough I had reached the busy heart of the city. People rushed around in the morning traffic, children scampered on their way to school, and everything seemed to be business as usual. Not nearly as developed as Napoli or Zurich, the city had a strange charm to it that was hard to describe. The scents of vendors selling herbs and spices mixing with the smell of gas powered hover vehicles and the dust in the air. A city steeped in tradition and technology.

I had little understanding of Arabic. Actually I had no understanding of Arabic. But Minerva was able to translate and provide me with Arabic phrases on my contacts that I could use to get around.

With help from a few locals and Minerva's GPS, we managed to zone in on Helix HQ. They were stationed not too far from the Anubis containment facility. Lovingly nicknamed "The Temple Of Anubis".

The building wasn't too tall, rather sporting most of its size in it's girth. The facility probably extended a good deal beyond what I could see. The word "Helix" printed on the front in both Arabic and English.

The day was young, and there didn't seem to be too much staff at their administration block.

I walked in to scope the place out undercover.

I tried walking past reception but I was called to the front desk.  
"Hey! You! You cannot just walk in there!"

The front desk was staffed by a young egyptian man wearing khaki uniform who's badge read "Cadet Hamad".

I walked up to him. He didn't seem to recognize me, good.

"Excuse me, but who is in charge here?" I asked him.

"Ah, good morning my friend. Who is in charge? Well.. at the moment, it is a tough question. Technically it is supposed to be major Rogerson, but at the moment he is conducting field exerci-"

Hamad stopped himself.

"Heyy. Wait a minute. My friend I nearly accidentally gave you confidential information! No no there is no field exercise." He finished, folding his arms.

"Well… since your major is away, who is in command here?" I asked.

"Hey I never told you anything about him being away. If anyone asks you, I didn't say anything. _Khalas_? Okay? This is the third week in a row I am stuck with front desk duty." he said, slumping in his seat.

"I'd like an answer, Hamad." I said, with a slightly more serious tone.

"Okay fine, fine. Don't get so mad, otherwise captain Amari will-"  
"I'll what?"

Hamad turned around with a startled jump.

Behind him was an Egyptian woman, wearing a navy blue Helix officer uniform. She had a green jacket over her shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, exposing muscular arms. Her hair was done in a short bob cut that reached her shoulders. But by far her most striking feature was her face tattoo. An eye of Horus, around her own right eye.

The name tag on her chest said:  
' **Captain Amari'**

Hamad leapt to his feet and saluted.

"Good morning Ma'am!" He said, looking straight into blank space while saluting.

"At ease cadet" She said.

She then looked me over.

Amari.

That was a name I had heard before. A name I idolized when I was young.

"Captain Amari?" I asked.

"Yes, that's me." She replied.

She even had the eye tattoo...

"Like THE captain Ana Amari? Second in command at Overwatch?" I asked further.

She smirked.

"You must be familiar with my mother's work. Yes, THAT Ana Amari." She said.

I realized I was staring.

"Yes, apologies, you must hear that a lot." I said, still taken aback that my childhood hero's daughter was standing in front of me.

"Well, think nothing of it. Now, we would love to stay and chat but unfortunately Helix is rather busy at the moment. Maybe come back some other time." Said the captain.

"Busy with what exactly?" I asked, curious.

Suddenly her expression turned grim.

"Look, I'm a busy woman. I have more urgent things to attend to than to answer questions from a civilian. I asked you once. Leave." She said.

Hamad apparently didn't hear the "at ease" he was told, he stood, breathless looking back and forth between me and his captain.

"Fine, have it your way." I said, backing away.

"Oh, and for the record, I'd keep my guard up if I were you. There are people out there who could really cause some damage around here." I told them.

"Is that a threat, civilian?" asked captain Amari.

"I have more urgent things to attend to than answer you. _Capitano_."

The two looked a bit confused at the end there, because up till that point I was speaking Arabic (With Minerva's helpful contact lenses giving me hints) but my last word came out in Italian.

I hurried out of the building and back onto the street.

Shit.

A few streets away from the Helix HQ, I was hurrying down the street, trying to figure out what to do.

I wanted to try warning them first, but ended up pissing them off and landing back at square one.

I doubt they would take me seriously if I tried again.

Leaving my only remaining option as infiltrating the Anubis compound mysel-

"Agh!"

"Oof!"

I walked straight into someone without realizing.

The two of us were sprawled on the ground.

I got up first and helped up my unfortunate acquaintance.

"I am very sorry, I do apologize" I said, dusting off the man's clothes.

Then I realized he wasn't actually a man.

"Why thank you! It's not how I hoped we would meet again after all these years, but goodness. It's quite a change seeing you here, Leo."

It was Zenyatta. One of the Omnic monks who I had trained with half a decade ago at the Shambail temple.

I was completely speechless.

"What the fuck."

"Leo! My goodness, you look different. It's a small world after all, isn't it?"

I just stared at him. The omnic monk wore tattered robes and floated off the ground, just enough so that he was the same height as me, and his legs were folded.

Minerva chimed in.

"Uh, yeah… you're not hallucinating sir, it's actually him."

How… What… Why.

I snapped back to my senses and grabbed him by the shoulders.

I rushed him into a nearby alleyway.

He took my arms off of him.

"Now now, there is no need for violence, you could have simply asked me to follow you!" He said.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE IN CAIRO!" I yelled at him.

The monk paused for a moment, waiting for me to calm down.

"Remember your training, Leo. Breath and focus…"

"Stop telling me to breathe, you don't even have lungs."

"Sir, that is not polite"

"Shut up Minerva"  
"Who are you talking to, Leo?" he asked.  
"Answer me mast- I mean Zenyatta." I said.

"Okay, fine. If you wish."

He looked at me, a little sad.

"I came because I was looking for you" he said.

"Who told you I was here?" I asked.

"Nobody. The Iris lead me onto your path."

My eye twitched.

What?

"Look, I don't know what the fuck is happening, Zenyatta, but we can catch up later." I said "You have to stop calling me by name all the time, I'm not supposed to be here."

"Then why _are_ you here?" He asked.

How was I going to explain this.

"Its because I'm hunting down-"

"Talon." he completed.

"How did you know?" I asked, confused as hell.

"You are heading down a dangerous path. One that is dangerous enough for me to seek you out to counsel you. You are troubled, and Mondatta always sensed it. The world is changing, the Iris can sense as much." he put a hand on my shoulder. "Mondatta was unable to convince you to look to the Iris when you needed it most. I'm here to finish what he started".He said.

"The Iris told you I was after Talon?"

"Our destiny is not set in stone, we can still change what is to come."

I sighed.

He means well, and he knows something.

"Okay look, just come with me, and don't refer to me as Leonardo Carraro, he is supposed to be in Venezuela right now." I finally said.

We headed back to Helix HQ. This time I had a different plan.

"Zenyatta, wait out here, I won't be long." I told him as I headed back inside.

Hamad was still at reception. He had a coffee mug on the desk. Perfect.

He was reading a magazine or something, not paying attention to me as I came in.

I dropped a pill into his drink and cleared my throat to get his attention.

"Yes. What is it?" He said, putting away his paper.

He realized it was me.

"Hey, didn't the Captain ask you to go away?" He said, annoyed.

"I was just hoping I could use a restroom." I said.

"Ugh. Okay my friend, there is one just past reception on your left. Don't take too long, it's supposed to be employees only."

"Thank you very much" I said, walking past him to the restroom. I heard him sip his drink as I went past.

Upon getting in, I hid in a stall, where I took off my coat and pulled my faceplate out from inside it. I turned it on and placed it on my face. Upon doing so my suit activated and the rest of the helmet assembled around my neck and the back of my head, snapping to the faceplate and holding it in place. My gauntlets also formed around my arms.

"All systems online, sir." Said Minerva. "But stay cautious, I haven't had a chance to scan the building, or hack the security. It's up to you to stay hidden."

" **Why haven't you gotten the drones to run a scan?** "

"Helix has advanced anti aircraft measures and a very sensitive radar, they would be obliterated if they came close."

" **Cazzo** "

"Yeah, I know."

I hid in the employee restroom for about a minute.

And right on queue, Hamad stumbled in, nauseous.

"Ay, _khara_. Too much falafel." He said, trying not to throw up.

He opened the bathroom stall I was hiding in.

I had a pretty good remedy for nausea.

Unconsciousness.

I knocked him on both sides of the head with my gauntlets.

He fell to the floor.

I checked his pockets for anything useful, and found an access card.

It read "Room 27. Restricted entry".

" **Looks like we are headed for room 27** ". I said with a smile.

I stepped out of the restroom and hurried down the hall.

" **Minerva, I want every single security camera between me and that room disabled** "

"Working on it sir."

The facility had numbered doors running down the length of it's corridors.

There were surprisingly few staff members around here, where was the rest of Helix?

35… 32... 29..

It had to be here somewhere. As I rushed down the corridors, I would occasionally see a security camera ahead of me, just as it was powering down.

" **Keep up the good work.** "  
"Hah, I can hack faster than you can run."  
" **I am NOT in the mood to race.** "

"Only because you'll lose, sir."  
I rolled my eyes.

Luckily I had found the room I was looking for.

Outside there was a warning sign.

 **Danger, authorized personnel only**

I opened the door and stepped in.

Inside the room things looked strange. I was in a small room with transparent walls, but beyond the walls there was a bigger room with a door and a large mirror on it. It was as if I had stepped inside a glass… box… inside a bigger room.

The door behind me suddenly locked, and suddenly the floor and ceiling started sparking with electricity.

"Sir, its a Tra-a -a-a-a-a-a-[_-}{\\_\\-_/\\[-"

My suit began shorting out, Minerva's signal from the Cloud was being scrambled, filling my ear with static and error messages.

" **Mine** rva **?** W **hat** 's goi **ng** **o** n **?** " my voice modulator began fucking up, electricity sparked up and down through my suit. Luckily the inside was laced with insulative rubber, but that only dulled the pain of the voltage so much.

"AHAAGHHHHHHHHHH" I screamed trying to subdue the increasing pain and remain conscious.

Just as I began being able to smell burning hair, the current stopped. I fell to the floor.

The suit was completely fried.

Outside the glass box, the door opened and Captain Amari stepped through.

She had been watching me, that mirror was one sided…

A couple of other Helix soldiers were with her, armed with assault rifles.

The glass walls went down, and Amari knelt beside me. She turned me over so I was on my back.

"So, the world famous Ill Gatto, here in _my_ base. I'm honored." she said, sarcastically.

I coughed, trying to get the burning smell out of my nose.

When I had finished coughing, I took a deep breath.

"What kind of fucked up room is this?" I asked, wheezing for more air.

"We leave key cards for this room with all cadets in case they are compromised, anyone who steals one will end up walking in and being tased." she said, proud of their fucking horrifying security system.

She said something in Arabic to the two soldiers who were with her who then nodded and left the room.

She offered me a hand.

"Get up, I think we can be civil, don't you?" she said.

I took her hand and she helped me up.

"So, you've heard of me?" I said.

"Yes, you've made rounds on the news. A vigilante who fights the mob." she said, a slight smile on her lips, but her eyes remaining determined.

She continued.

"The only reason we didn't fry you till you passed out, is because we respect what you've done. I respect what you've done."

"How touching" I adjusted my helmet's voice modulator, but it was completely screwed.

"You could have fucking killed me."

She chuckled.

"Don't be so dramatic, if we wanted you dead, you would _be_ dead." She led me through the door and into a room with a table and a couple of seats. An interrogation room.

Fuck.

I've worked as hard as possible to avoid situations like these.

I sat down.

She sat across from me.

"So, is it coming off?" she asked. "That helmet of yours."

"No, nice try."

"I prefer to look people in the eyes when speaking with them."

Admittedly, it was a bit difficult seeing through the faceplate without the camera assistance.

I lowered the faceplate just enough so that my eyes were visible.

"Better?" I asked.

"It will do."

We looked at each other for a moment.

She looked fascinated, but confident. She knew she was in control, and had the air of a CEO meeting with an employee who showed excellence in the workplace.

I know because I've been on the other side of this situation.

She broke the silence.

"I have to ask, why do you do it?" she said.

"Because the system doesn't work. Crime will exist as long as there are people rich enough to put themselves above the law." I said.

Her smile grew wider.

"I like your spirit, cat." she said. "But my superiors won't appreciate your little stunt here at Helix, it's going to take more than spirit for you to get out of this one." she told me.

"Look, I-.. I mean.. one of my associates came here earlier and tried to warn you about a security threat, you turned him away, so I decided to get involved personally." I explained.

"Oh. That brat with the cheap glasses? Yeah, I was busy at the time, and Helix doesn't take tips from civilians."

"Cheap? Those aviators cost at least five hundred dollars! Classic Ray Bans!" I said, insulted.

"Okay, _khara_ , sorry" she said, a bit startled. "What was this security threat you were talking about?"  
"I came across documentations from a leaked source that indicated that the Anubis compound was a target for Talon operations, sometime in the near future. I wanted to know what they were after, so I came here to find out."

"Well, rest assured, Anubis is very well guarded, I have my best soldiers on the job."

"Switzerland was the last place they targeted." I looked her straight in the eyes. "And I think we both know what happened there."  
Suddenly a good deal of confidence drained from her face.

"These documents you found, do you have them with you?"  
"I can show them to you, but you have to let me go first."  
She stood up.

"How do I know you'll come back?" she asked.

"I'm a man of my word." I said.

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"I would love to let you go. But I can't. What you did to Hamad is a punishable offense."

"Alright, fine. You don't have to release me, but just give me access to a phone or something, I can show you the documents if I can connect to my…" I paused and tried to think of something that wasn't 'Flying Base'.

"Intelligence sources." I finished.

She signalled for me to follow her out of the room.

"I can do that, but let's hope your evidence is solid, because if not we have to hand you over to federal police. You are a wanted man, Gatto."

She led me to a bigger circular room with computer screens lined against the wall, there were Helix officers supervising each one. A large hologram table was in the center, showing the Anubis compound.

"This is the command center." She said.

When we walked in, a number of officers looked at me. Some shocked, many angry.

A young woman holding a tablet in one hand quickly steps toward Amari and salutes.

"Good morning ma'am. Nothing to report from intel." she said.

"At ease lieutenant. I need you to get this man a computer."

"Actually, this will do." I said as I plucked the tablet out of her hand.

"Hey! Captain what-" she protested

"Not now Ame, lets see what he does."

I pulled out a messaging application and pinged the _Cloud_. After a few seconds I received a message back.

 _What happened sir? Are you alright?_

I replied.

 _I need you to transfer the leaked Talon documents_.

 _Right away sir. Please be careful._

She transferred the documents onto the tablet.

I handed the tablet over to the captain.

"There. Details of a cyber attack on the facility to take down the firewall and breach your defenses." I said.

She took the tablet from me and looked at it in disbelief.

"This is way too detailed, how long have they been planning this?"

"Long enough for you to start worrying." I replied.

She looked determined.

"Lieutenant, I want you to get these files analyzed, and make the required changes to our firewall"

The young woman nodded and hurried off to inform her fellow officers.

"Am I free to go now?" I asked.

She scoffed.

"Not until we have complete proof that those files are legitimate."

I got annoyed.

"Well, trust me. They're pretty fucking leg-"

I was interrupted by the sound of sirens.

"What's going on? Give me intel!" barked the captain to her officers.

Everyone panicked.

"Our servers are being hit by a virus, ma'am. We're going to end up losing all our data!"

Said an officer at a computer.

Amari panicked.

"Disconnect us from the external network then!"

"Ma'am, it's not coming from the external network!"

She turned to me.

"Was this you?"

"OF COURSE NOT!"

Suddenly the young lieutenant spoke up.

"Captain, I have an Idea. The attack pattern of the virus is similar to the one described by this document." she said, holding up the tablet.

"If it is the same virus detailed here, I could possibly whip up a program to effectively shut it down."

"Do it!."ordered the captain.

"I'm launching a counter attack, let's hope this works." she typed away.

She typed away at her station, the other officers and I crowded behind her, trying to see if her efforts would lead anywhere.

Suddenly, the lights went out.

For a brief moment, everyone held their breath.

I could practically hear every single heartbeat in the room.

The lights came back on.

"Defense successful, virus has been quarantined."

The entire room erupted in a collection of sighs of relief and cheers.

"Fuck, it worked." said the captain as she beamed at me.

I smiled, but she probably couldn't see it.

"What did I tell you, I'm a man of my word"

"That you are, Ill Gatto, thank you." she offered an arm.

"Friends call me Gat, and you're welcome."

"Well, Gat. Friends call me Fareeha." she said.

We shook hands.

"So… am I free to go?" I asked.

She tilted her head.

"Technically we should arrest you. But… maybe you were too fast for us and we couldn't grab a hold of you?" she said, suggestively.

I nodded in understanding.

"Ah… just slipped through your fingers."

She nodded.

The other officers gave me a brief salute.

I took my opportunity to take my leave.

"Minerva? Minerva?!" I tried making contact, but to no avail,

Fuck. I'm on the street dressed as a cat. In the heat. In public. Cazzo.

I hurried back to where I had left the cloud, clambering across Egyptian rooftops, attracting attention from confused pedestrians.

Eventually, when I was certain I was far enough away from the middle of town, I looked up to the sky and started waving my hands around, in an attempt to signal Minerva down.

The _Cloud_ , emerged, and I hopped in.

I pulled my helmet off, sweating profusely.

"Fuck. This. Heat." I said, pulling off sections of armor.

"Sir, what the hell just happened?"

I explained the situation at Helix.

"Ah, well. That's a relief, this Fareeha of yours seems to hold you to a great deal of respect, I doubt she would have let you go if you weren't on the news for being a hero." Said Minerva.

"I don't know, something isn't right. I know I should feel better, because I stopped Talon from compromising the Anubis god program. But I don't. Something just feels _wrong_."

"Yeah, about things going wrong…"

Minerva paused.

"What?" I asked. "What happened?"

"They left."  
"What?" I said, shocked.

"Yeah, it was strange, Jayce started glowing at the-"  
"Primus"

"...Primus started glowing at the eyes." She finished.

"What the fuck? How? Why?"  
"I'm not sure sir, and if I'm being honest, neither were they." She said.

"So they just wandered off?"  
"Jayce said-"  
"Primus."

"...Primus said he was being drawn somewhere, like something was calling him."  
"Minerva COME ON! We can't just set him loose! He's dangerous!"

"Sir you cannot have possibly planned on keeping him forever."  
"Just until I got an explanation for what Zurich wa-"

I was cut short by an explosion.

"Sir, I detected a detonation in-"  
"No shit, I detected that too"

"...in the city center. Near the helix compound."

I ran to the observation deck and checked my live feed of city surveillance.

A cloud of sand and dust rose near the center of town.

I swore.

"Cazzo."

I put my helmet back on.

" **For your sake,that better not have been your fault. Primus**."

I was fully suited in combat armor and running down the streets, terrified citizens ran in, scattering everywhere.

Large swathes of dust were hanging in the air, people covered their faces to avoid breathing it.

"Sir, I don't think you should be down there on foot." Said Minerva in my ear.

" **I'm dressed for the occasion, I'll be alright.** "

"Sir, I can have the _Pantera_ operational at a moments notice, it will be safer for you."  
" **Minerva, its not ready yet. Its completely untested, if I drive that thing it's going to do more damage than whatever else is already fucking things up here.** "

I looked at my heads up display.

"Sir, drones have spotted multiple Minervium signatures coming from the blast zone."

My heart skipped a beat.

" **Fuck, I think I'm reconsidering that** _ **Pantera**_ **thing.** "  
"Sir, Watch out!"

A red blip appeared on my radar, closing in.

I looked up, an armoured figure with wings emerged from within the dust. It was flying straight at me.

In one hand it held a large ballistic weapon, and it wore a striking helmet on its head.

I readied my gauntlets.

Then I realized it wasn't flying.

It was bombing. I jumped out of the way.

It crashed on the ground, flying straight past me.

I turned around, startled. It lay motionless for a second, then slowly turned onto its back. I ran towards it, claws outstretched. When I approached, I realized what I was looking at.

" **Hamad**?" I asked.

"Ah, _ya khara_ who the hell are you?" He said, wheezing after finishing his sentence.

I noticed his visor was broken on his helmet, half his face was exposed. He was wearing a Helix Raptora suit, standard issue flight capable armor that was known for surviving direct missiles. There was a fucking hole in his chest.

" **Not, important. Tell me what happened here.** "  
He looked at me more carefully.

"My friend! You are that Italian Cat! I know you! You knocked me out in that bathroom!"

" **Sorry about that. But fuck, I'm asking you something, WHAT IS GOING ON?** "

"Sir. Behind you." Said Minerva.

Instinctively, I turned around and swung my claw to catch whoever was behind me off guard.

Fareeha caught my arm, making me lose my balance and fall.

"Gat, calm the hell down, I'm not in the mood." She said.

She was dressed in a raptorion suit of her own, blue, and bearing resemblance to a falcon.

She pushed me aside and inspected Hamad's wounds.

"Captain, please, you need to leave, there is no stopping that thing!"

"Shut up Hamad, thats an order."  
She looked him in the eyes.

"If my team doesn't make it, I don't deserve to survive either!" she said.

Her voice was trembling a little.

Whatever these two had seen, it was horrible enough to leave an Amari in fear.

" **Fareeha, please, just tell me what you saw.** "  
"Monsters." she said, not looking at me.

" **More specific please** " I asked.

"Robots, I think. They looked like it, large and armed to the teeth with all sorts of destructive weaponry. We've counted two of them, plus a smaller, more human enemy.

"What do we do captain?"  
"We need to get as many people away from here as possible."

" **Wait, two large robots? Did they come from the sky?** "

Fareeha looked at me, a cold look in her eyes.

"They crashed straight into the city center." I could sense the dread in her voice.

"Hundreds, maybe thousands dead." She said. I stood up.

" **These things, I know what they can do. You're right, we have to evacuate as many people as we can.** " Images of Zurich's ruined streets filled my mind.

" **Minerva, activate the** _ **Cloud**_ ' **s defenses, I want you scanning the air for any more traces of Minervium, if you see one, destroy it at all costs** " I ordered.

"My friend why are you talking to yourself?" said Hamad, his face drained of color. He was losing consciousness.  
"Stay awake soldier!" said Fareeha. She grabbed his shoulders and tried to sit him up.

"We can get you out of this." She desperately tried to pick him up.

"Weapons are on high alert, I'm bringing the _Cloud_ in to do a few sweeps." informed Minerva.

Out of the corner of my eyes I noticed a missile coming out of the clouds.

It was locked onto us.

" **FAREEHA**!" I screamed as I jumped in between the missile and her.

The explosion sent us flying into a building. I had wrapped myself around her in time to take a brunt of the force, but I was sure I had broken my rib again.

Fuck.

The wall we hit had collapsed.

"HAMAD!" She screamed as she wrestled out of my arms.

She stumbled out of the debris and looked around.

I got up and noticed that bits and pieces of his armor lay scattered all over the street.

My god…

Fareeha stood still, processing what had just happened.

She walked down to the middle of the street and picked up Hamads rocket launcher.

She then took off and flew straight into the city center.

" **She's going to get herself killed.** "

"You nearly got killed yourself, sir." said Minerva.

" **Who cares, look around.** "

I knew what I had to do.

" **I can't let her die as well.** "

I ran into the fray.

As I got closer the dust got thicker. Cars lay crashed and burning, ruined buildings were strewn. Bodies filled the streets.

I heard rockets detonating somewhere in the city. Fareeha, most likely.

Closing in, I heard the sound of footsteps coming from nearby.

I ran toward the sound and found that it came from inside a clinic.

I stepped inside and found that it was filled with civilians.

They looked at me, scared.

"Please, don't kill us!" a man in the front of the group screamed out.

" **Shut the fuck up!** " I said. " **Someone will hear you.** "

"Sir there's at least 40 people in here." Said Minerva.

" **We have to get you out of here** " I said. The terrified people looked to me, waiting for me to say something more.

" **Well? Lets go!** " I said.

"But the monsters, they are at our doorstep." One woman said.

Just as she said that, I saw a grenade roll in from outside.

Whoever the fuck keeps trying to blow me up is doing a disturbingly good job of sneaking up on me.

I threw myself on the grenade.  
" **EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE** "

The explosion shook the building to its core.

The entire building collapsed on top of us. Nobody would have survived.

But as the dust cleared everyone was intact. The entire group of civilians was unhurt, in fact many of them even looked better than they did before. My rib didn't feel broken anymore.

I noticed that the entire place was being illuminated by a warm yellow glow.

I looked up, and saw Zenyatta, hovering over the ground, emitting his aura. His three holographic arms were spread out as well.

" **What the hell…** "

"We are all one… within the Iris." He said to me. "Where did you go? I was looking for you Le-... I mean Gat."

" **Long story.** "

I looked up from the wreckage.

And I finally found my giant robots. Not too far in the distance, I saw them. There weren't words. Three in total, two large and metallic, one smaller and more humanoid.

They fit Fareeha's description. Large metallic beings with thin dark purple bodies and massive wings on their bodies were not as big as the one from Zurich, bet they did bear a resemblance. But the smaller one. The human sized one. His entire appearance just screamed _Wrong_. His armor plating was the same deep purple as Minervium. His helmet was entirely black except for the purple visor, and silver plating over where his mouth would be.

They were a few hundred meters away from the clinic. Hovering at a considerable height. They were spinning around and firing wildly, trying to hit something. I looked closer and spotted two Raptorion suits.

" **Fareeha…** " I said.

"What?" Asked Zenyatta.

" **Nothing. Get these people out of here. I'll deal with those three.** "

"Good luck Gat. But remember, not every situation can be won by force alone."  
" **Yeah, let me go and debate the fucking alien robot death machines. I'll deal with this however I have to, just do your part.** "

He sighed, but nodded in understanding.

I left him to tend to the survivors, and headed for the invaders.

" **Hey!** _ **Cazzi**_ **over here!** " I yelled trying to distract them.

Unfortunately, the first one to hear me was one of the Raptor suits. He looked back at me and didn't notice the smaller alien firing his laser. The shot landed in his back and sent him crashing.

" **Shit.** "

The monsters all turned to me.

The small one looked like the leader, as the other two waited for his instruction.

"Destroy it." He said.

The other two aimed their arm cannons straight at me.

Fuck.

I was sent flying by this blast, my armor being pushed to its limits.

"Sir, your left leg is-"  
" **Hurting like a bitch** " I groaned.

The explosion had knocked me well away from the center of town.

I was in a more wide open sandy area, dust covering my faceplate.

"... Broken, sir. It's broken." finished Minerva.

" **We need to keep their attention as long as we can** "

"Sir, you cannot kill them alone."  
" **I'm not alone, am I?** " I said. " **Bring her in, the** _ **Cloud**_ **. Make these things pay for what they did.** "  
"I fully intend to sir. Weapons are nearly fully charged up."

I looked up, the aliens were coming back to finish the job.

" **Minerva, if they kill me, please make sure you fucking finish them off.** "

"Don't say that sir."

" **Thank you. For everything.** " I lay in the sand, the searing pain in my leg only getting worse.

The robots had returned, their leader front and center.

"You fool. You don't realise what is at stake."

" **Vague much?** " I said, straining.

"Once we eliminate that idiot, our plans will fall into place."

My eyes widened.

" **Primus?** "

"Hmm.. is that what he calls himself? Why did he name himself after that fool."

" **You did all this, because you want to find** _ **him**_ **?** "

"Maybe, maybe not. It isn't your concern really. You should be worrying about more… _pressing_ issues."

His friends aimed their cannons at me once more.

They fired.

I closed my eyes.

I heard an explosion.

I opened my eyes and found myself in Fareeha's arms. Is this supposed to be heaven?

No. This was the third time I had survived an explosion within the last hour.

She had swooped down and grabbed me before the missiles hit.

" **I guess we're even** " I said.

"Are you alright?" She asked, eyes dead ahead.

" **No, my legs are broken**."

"They killed major Rogerson." She suddenly said.

"I saw his body on the street just a second ago."

I realised there was a tear in her eye, just visible against the tattoo.

" **What happened to the rest of helix?** " I asked.

She landed outside the dust cloud.

I looked around, we were in an open sandy area, Raptor suits were littered everywhere. Bodies, limbs, and armor were strewn around craters and rubble.

" _ **Cristo**_ " I said under my breath.

"Yes" I heard a voice behind me say.

We turned around.

"Look around, look at what happens to those who challenge Unicron." It was the humanoid invader.

"I'm out of fuel." said Fareeha. Her voice was filled with defeat.

" **I'm not.** " I said, standing up.

The pain was bad. But I was still alive. I would make the most of it.

"Sir, what are you doing." Minerva asked.

I pressed a button on the inner arm of the suit. I had one more trick up my sleeve.

"Sir, I know what you're thinking. It won't be enough." She said,

" **It's all I've got.** "

The larger robots aimed their cannons at me, primed.

Suddenly, another armored figure this time in red and blue landed in between me and the enemies.

Lots of armor today.

Purple genocide man seemed amused by this.

"Well, if it isn't the prime. It's about time you showed up. These two have been pretty boring if you ask me…"

Primus? What in the goddamn.

I looked at the red and blue armor. The gauntlets looked very similar to the one's Primus made on the _Cloud_. Holy shit where did he get the armor?

"Do you know what happened to the last person who threatened me?" Said Jayce. "He blew up."

Definitely Jayce, he must be talking about Zurich.

" **Yeah!** " I spoke up. " **He blew up my fucking ship! And speaking of my ship…** " I turned to the sky.

The _Cloud_ uncloaked, it loomed over us, weaponry primed and aimed directly at the threats.

A capsule launched from the front, it landed right next to me.

I opened the hatch and stepped in, where my suit was quickly fitted with bulkier armor.

I stepped out again, ready to take the fight to them.

I charged at the leader, the upgraded armor propelling me forward, I let out a roar as I thrust my fist at his face.

But just as I came close enough to connect…

The purple figure swats me aside with a single hand, sending me flying across the battlefield.

I blacked out.

I woke up, Fareeha's face was the first thing I saw. Okay, was _this_ heaven?

Then I saw Zenyatta's face. Fuck. I'm alive aren't I?

"He's awake." Said Fareeha. She looked very concerned.

How long was I out?

Almost as if she could read my mind.

"You had me so damn worried. You were out for at least twenty minutes. I thought you were dead."

"He very nearly was…" said Zenyatta.

I looked around me, I was in the _Cloud_ 's medbay. Medical droids were just powering down around me.

" **What… what happened?** " I asked.

Fareeha explained.

"You were knocked out. The man in the blue armor-"

"Jayce Primus" added Minerva.

"... yeah him. He took on all three of them, he had a large glowing sword which he used to fight him. This craft, the _Cloud_ , it also assisted in taking them down."

"Yes, I was quite on point with my aim if I do say so mysel-"

"In the end, they kicked up so much dust that we couldn't actually see the end of the fight."

" **Primus killed ALL THREE?** " I said.

"With my help of course, sir." Said Minerva.

" **SHUT THE FUCK UP** "

"SHUT UP"

Said me and Fareeha said in unison.

" **Where is he?** " I asked.

"I'll call him back, sir." said Minerva, a little hurt.

A few minutes passed.

I learnt from Zenyatta that he managed to save the civilians, and that he 'sensed' my pain and came to find me. He was able to keep me stable, along with Fareeha, long enough to get me back in the _Cloud_ after the fight. Angela was back in the _Cloud_ too, she said that Primus got his armor from an ancient hidden alien Egyption tomb. Apparently his eyes started glowing and showed him the way to the crypt where the weapons and armor were kept. How? What?... uh... I don't fucking know. This shit just confuses me.

But one thing stuck out in my mind. Primus may be innocent.

But he is still dangerous. The aliens. The machines. Whatever they were.

They were here _For Him_.

He attracts destruction and death wherever he goes. Not because he wants to. But because he has dangerous enemies. Unicron, that's what the invaders called him. That's what Jayce said he was sent here to fight.

While I was still contemplating the entire revelation, Primus walked into the cargo bay. All of us were gathered here, waiting for him.

He stepped inside, and the bay doors shut.

He was still fully armored, his armor was battle worn, but still looked like it was made yesterday. His helmet hid his face. But the blue and red exterior wasn't going to scare me.

He stared at the floor.

We looked at him in silence for a second.

I decided to step up to him.

I stood barely a foot away from his face.

Well?

" **What the fuck was that?** " I demanded.

He didn't react.

looks like the truth isn't going to come easy.

I never pick the easy option anyway.

I _will_ find out how to protect my world.

I'm not letting Primus stand in my way.

No more mister nice guy.

My eyes turned red.


End file.
